Annals of Family Medicine Podcast

Annals of Family Medicine

Innovations from the cutting edge of family medicine research. About the journal: Annals of Family Medicine is an open access, peer-reviewed research journal serving the needs of scientists, practitioners, policy makers, and the patients and communities they serve. It is the top-ranked North American primary care research journal, and charges no fees for publication. The journal is a collaborative effort of seven family medicine organizations and has been in publication since 2003. https://www.annfammed.org/content/annals-family-medicine-podcast-innovations-cutting-edge-family-medicine-research

  1. Sep 22

    Ep. 14: Social Support in Group Medical Visits for Chronic Pain in Primary Care, Featuring Dr. Maria Chao and Jesse Wennik

    In this episode, Maria Chao, DrPH, MPA, and Jesse Wennik, NP, join host Dr. Sherri Eldin to discuss their research study titled, “Social Support in Group Medical Visits for Chronic Pain in Primary Care,” which found that through deliberate facilitation and peer exchange, group medical visits mobilize four reinforcing forms of social support as core therapeutic processes and may serve as a model of biopsychosocial chronic pain management in primary care.   About the study: More than one in five U.S. adults lives with chronic pain. Isolation and stigma can make it worse, and primary care visits are often too short to address all needs. Group medical visits allow multiple patients with a common condition to receive medical care alongside health education and peer support. This study examined how group medical visits facilitate four types of social support: emotional, appraisal, informational, and instrumental. Qualitative data were collected within a randomized trial at San Francisco safety-net clinics. Patients were assigned to group visits consisting of 12 weekly two-hour sessions of clinical care, pain education, mindfulness, gentle movement, and discussion. Groups were co-faciliated by primary care and behavioral health clinicians and a movement and mindfulness instructor. Researchers observed 16 sessions with 26 patients and held two focus groups and 12 interviews. Most patients had low incomes; half identified as Black or African American, and average pain was 7.7 out of 10. Patients reported all four types of social support. The nonjudgemental space and trust built within the group encouraged emotional support, such as removing shame over late arrivals or absences, and also from naming and discussing grief. Facilitators gave appraisal support by disclosing their own setbacks and peers offered affirmations that encouraged self-compassion. Informational support came from the curriculum and from peers, who traded tips like using frozen water bottles for plantar fasciitis. Instrumental support included peers bringing food to share and facilitators referring participants for counseling and other care.    Link to full, open access study: https://www.annfammed.org/content/24/5/422   Supporting Resources:    Detailed information on the ongoing randomized controlled trial: Group-based Integrative Pain Management in Primary Care Safety Net Clinics    Brief video on the integrative pain management program (IPMP) at the Tom Waddell Urban Health Clinic: https://vimeo.com/306277769    Public box folder with publications on integrative pain management programs: https://ucsf.box.com/s/dqn10t4n5f6tqxuonwmj68uzlhqz9hy6

    Ep. 14: Social Support in Group Medical Visits for Chronic Pain in Primary Care, Featuring Dr. Maria Chao and Jesse Wennik
  2. May 27

    Ep. 13: Fall-Related Emergency Department Visits Among Adults With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or Cerebral Palsy, featuring Teal Benevides, PhD, and Michael McKee, MD, MPH

    Dr. Teal Benevides and Dr. Michael McKee join host Dr. Sherri Eldin to discuss their research brief, “Fall-Related Emergency Department Visits Among Adults With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or Cerebral Palsy” (https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.250058). Dr. Benevides and Dr. McKee explain their findings that adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) or cerebral palsy (CP) were more likely to visit the emergency department for a fall-related injury than adults without these conditions, and that this risk appears at earlier ages than is seen in the general population. They also discuss the barriers these populations face in accessing preventive care, and what primary care clinicians can do, from earlier fall risk screening to multidisciplinary care and medication review, to reduce falls, morbidity, and mortality in these patients. Teal Benevides, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health Sciences in Augusta University’s School of Public Health. She has a passion for describing, understanding, and addressing disparities among individuals on the autism spectrum and those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Dr. McKee is an Associate Professor and board-certified in family medicine with an expertise in disability health. His research focus includes health disparities for individuals with various disabilities, health information accessibility, health literacy, and telemedicine applications.  The video interview will be available on the Annals of Family Medicine YouTube channel. As usual, the audio-only episode will also be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and the Podbean App, as well as on the Annals of Family Medicine website.

  3. 12/05/2025

    Ep. 9: Live from NAPCRG 2025: Dr. Felicity Goodyear-Smith

    In this first episode of the 2025 Live from the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) conference series, we interview Dr. Felicity Goodyear-Smith. She received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Auckland, where she now serves as Professor and Goodfellow Postgraduate Chair of General Practice and Primary Care. A prolific author with more than 360 peer-reviewed publications, 11 books, and 30 book chapters, she joined the Annals of Family Medicine Editorial Advisory Board in 2024 and has delivered several NAPCRG plenaries, including this year’s. Recorded the day before her plenary, the episode previews the talk she and her research collective were about to give, which tells the story of a Pacific co-design research journey that began with a 2016 PaCE workshop and led to the formation of a Pacific community group and a Pacific Practice-Based Research Network in South Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Guided by Pacific research frameworks such as fa’afaletui and the Fonofale model of holistic health, their work involves community groups in every step of the research process and includes projects addressing gout and rheumatic fever. Resources Mentioned:  NAPCRG's PaCE (Patient and Clinician Engagement): https://napcrg.org/programs/pace/   "View from the Canoe: Co-Designing Research Pacific Style"  https://www.annfammed.org/content/18/2/172   "Travelling companions: a story told by a patient and her doctor": https://bjgp.org/content/68/671/282 or https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6002010/   Joseph Tuala RNZ article w/ news segment video: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/2018686731/nz-s-heart-breaker-rheumatic-fever-rates-on-the-rise   Fa'afaletui: A Pacific Research Framework: https://journals-sagepub-com.revproxy.brown.edu/share/2X7Q2ZPPTNV99BMSRYWM?target=10.1177/1558689820985948

    Ep. 9: Live from NAPCRG 2025: Dr. Felicity Goodyear-Smith

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Innovations from the cutting edge of family medicine research. About the journal: Annals of Family Medicine is an open access, peer-reviewed research journal serving the needs of scientists, practitioners, policy makers, and the patients and communities they serve. It is the top-ranked North American primary care research journal, and charges no fees for publication. The journal is a collaborative effort of seven family medicine organizations and has been in publication since 2003. https://www.annfammed.org/content/annals-family-medicine-podcast-innovations-cutting-edge-family-medicine-research

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