Plain-Language Abstract Instructions

All applications must include a structured abstract written in plain language, of no more than 750 words. This abstract will be used to:

  • Communicate research proposals to nursing home and assisted living providers who participate in the LTC Data Cooperative. This audience has expertise in long-term and post-acute care policy and practice, but are usually not formally trained in research. They will review the abstract and provide feedback to the LTC Data Cooperative Research Review Committee, which makes the final decision on your application.
  • Describe the scope of your research in your Data Use Agreement, if your application is approved. The specific aims as written in your final approved abstract will be used verbatim in your Data Use Agreement.
  • Evaluate whether a publication using the LTC Data Cooperative data addresses the approved scope of your research as described in this abstract, per the Publications Policy.
Please include the following headings:

  • Background and importance. What is the issue you are studying, what are the current gaps in evidence (particularly in this population or setting), and how will this research inform clinical practice and/or policy? Frame this for a provider audience, not a researcher audience. Be brief, but specific.
  • Specific aims (please number each aim): 
    • An initial aim may address the measurement or validation of the underlying prevalence of a condition or treatment, in preparation for your subsequent aims. 
    • Subsequent aims must fall within the scope of one of our two approved categories of research: comparative effectiveness research or clinical trials (including embedded pragmatic clinical trials) 
    • Note that the mission of the LTC Data Cooperative is to yield actionable findings to help clinicians, managers, and policymakers improve care. Thus, each aim should clearly convey the actionable findings it will produce (see also “Implications for providers” section).
  • Study design, stated briefly in plain language
  • Study population. If you only need data on a subset of facilities and/or residents, state that here.
  • Intervention, if applicable
  • Key measures and outcomes 
    Example: “We will compare the rates of antibiotic prescriptions between nursing homes that did vs. did not receive antibiotic stewardship training.”
  • Data Requested. Briefly describe the EHR data elements and (if applicable) claims files you are requesting and why. 
    Example: “We will use medication administration records (MAR), vital signs, diagnoses, and the MDS linked with Medicare hospital and prescribing claims to look at antibiotic prescribing and hospitalizations for residents with dementia.”
  • Provider engagement. We strongly recommend that all researchers conducting studies using LTC Data Cooperative data partner with nursing home or assisted living clinicians and/or leaders who have knowledge of real-world care delivery and EHR use in these settings to inform study design and data interpretation. Please describe if you have engaged, or will engage, with these individuals, either as members of your study team, as part of an advisory group, or as ad hoc consultants. For trials, specify whether you have already recruited nursing homes or assisted living communities for participation. We also ask all researchers to include a commitment in this section to present at one or more of our quarterly provider town halls. These town halls are an opportunity to collaborate with providers to receive feedback on study design, data interpretation, and implications.
  • Implications for providers. Include a brief description of how each of your study aims may inform and/or improve clinical care. This section may additionally address policy implications, alignment with provider priorities, feasibility under real-world conditions, and costs or burden to key stakeholders.
The abstract should clearly and succinctly describe the study in plain language. Abstracts with overly technical academic language, or that do not follow the required headings as described below, will be returned for revisions.