COmmuNity-engaged SimULation Training for Blood Pressure Control

The goal of CONSULT-BP is to train early-stage healthcare providers, including residents and nurse practitioner (NP) students, to mitigate providers' bias, improve communication skills, and enhance providers' ability to develop authentic and meaningful therapeutic alliances with patients. The study setting is an academic safety net hospital that serves a large non-White and poor population. The Investigators hypothesize that patients' outcomes (blood pressure levels) will be lower after the training intervention compared with before training (control) periods.

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Key information

Conditions

Hypertension Behavior Cardiovascular Diseases Prejudice Racism Social Behavior Social Discrimination Vascular Diseases

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Barre Family Health Center, Barre, Massachusetts, United States

About this study

CONSULT-BP is an intervention to test a theory-based, 'awareness, exposure and skill-building' approach applied in the safety of a simulation-based learning center, to improve providers' interaction skills with minority and poor patients. The study included community-based participatory research input to develop and implement CONSULT-BP in an academic medical center with a large, safety-net health system which serves minority and poor population.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

For Healthcare Trainees -

Inclusion criteria

Practice at a clinical site supported by an EMR to allow clinical data collection for outcome measurement
15-week clinical look-back period
No prior completion of the CONSULT-BP intervention

Exclusion criteria

1. All 1st year trainees

For Patient Participants -

Inclusion criteria

English-speaking
Non-White racial/ethnic minority or Medicaid recipient (regardless of race/ethnicity)
Hypertension identified in the EMR

Exclusion criteria

Enrolled in hospice.
Pregnancy, dementia, schizophrenia, bipolar illness, or other serious medical co-morbidity that would interfere with hypertension self-control

Treatment and study plan

CONSULT-BP Educational Intervention

Other

CONSULT-BP is a two sessions training provided to healthcare trainees over a 5-week period. The first session focused on (1) didactic overview of healthcare disparities, social drivers of health, implicit bias and systemic racism and (2) interactive discussions and patient storytelling videos to raise awareness of the bi-directional role of racial and ethnic identity among clinicians and patients. The second session focused on skill building and included (1) bias mitigation strategies based on the RELATE bias mitigation tool and (2) skill practice using 2 standardized patient simulated clinical encounters focusing on hypertension management challenges.

Primary outcomes

Blood Pressure

Time frame: Control period is 6 months before the intervention and intervention period is up to 6 months after the intervention

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure of patients treated by the participating clinician trainees as reported in the Electronic Medical Record.

Secondary outcomes

RELATE Checklist, a Standardized Patient Rating Scale for Bias-Mitigating and Patient-Centered Communication

Time frame: During CONSULT-BP session 2 clinician training intervention (simulated standardized patient encounter)

The RELATE (Respect, Empathize, Listen, Ask, Talk, Engage) is a 19-item checklist completed by an informant group of "standardized" patients during a simulated standardized patient encounter to evaluate interaction with the participating clinicians. The RELATE checklist contains 4 factors: Respect (4 items), Empathetic Listening (5 items); Ask and Talk (Inquiry, 6 items), and Engagement in Partnership (4 items). The checklist scores are from 0 to 38, with higher scores reflecting better communication from the perspective of the "standardized" patient.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Other

Collaborators

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

Registry information

Acronym: CONSULT-BP

Important dates

Study start: 2018
Primary completion: 2022
Study completion: 2024
First posted: Dec 18, 2017
Registry last updated: Sep 19, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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Completed