Two University of Iowa researchers have been approved for nearly $18 million to help older adults with multiple chronic medical conditions better manage their hypertension.

Korey Kennelty, the Patrick E. Keefe Professor in Pharmacy in the College of Pharmacy and the vice chair for research and implementation science in the Department of Family Medicine, and Carri Casteel, professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and director of the Injury Prevention Research Center in the College of Public Health, are dual-principal investigators on the award.

They will test two team-based care approaches to manage high blood pressure in older adults, both involving self-measured blood pressure, which involves the patient using a personal blood pressure monitoring device at home, recording their blood pressure at different times during the day, and using this information to work with their health care team on blood pressure management.

In the first approach, the patient will work with a health care team that includes nurses and primary care providers. In the second approach, pharmacists also will be part of the health care team.

Patients will be followed for 12 months to examine changes in blood pressure. Kennelty, Casteel, and their team aim to enroll 930 patients and will partner with more than 60 primary care clinics across the United States.

“It can be overwhelming managing high blood pressure along with other chronic medical conditions, and there is little evidence on how to effectively manage all these conditions together,” Kennelty says. “There is not a one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s critical to test which approach works best in different populations. This is for our patients, our families, our loved ones who feel the burden of managing multiple chronic conditions. We’re in this together.”

“The study is significant to the health and well-being of older adults,” Casteel says. “I look forward to working with Dr. Kennelty on this important project.”

The $17.9 million award comes from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions.

The award, which would be for five years, has been approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract.