title: Research partners: two teams, one study population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Two large research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Disease Management project and the Thrive study, which examine different phenomena in the chronically critically ill population, have combined research teams. Each study has its own project manager and maintains a separate database and budget. Operational tasks for both grants are streamlined through the collaboration and cross-training of all team members.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Disease Management project is a randomized clinical trial testing the effectiveness of a care program in improving outcomes for chronically critically ill patients and their caregivers during the first 2 months after discharge. The Thrive study is a prospective longitudinal investigation that aims to describe the weaning patterns of chronically critically ill patients as well as the patterns of illness-related variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To date, many participants (n = 400) have been enrolled in each study. The results of both studies will be available through future publications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although much information has been gleaned from gathering longitudinal data across one study population and examining two rich data sets, there are some limitations to this collaboration.
authors.affiliation: Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4904, USA. cxg11@cwru.edu
authors.forename: Carol G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Amy R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Lipson
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: Sara L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D016638:Critical Illness; D003625:Data Collection; D019468:Disease Management; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.) / Q000458:organization & administration; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012107:Research Design; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D014481:United States