Margaret McDonald, M.S.W.,

Margaret McDonald, M.S.W., Senior Project Manager, joined the Center for Home Care Policy and Research in 1998. At the Center, she is responsible for conducting research on the quality and outcomes of home health care. Ms. McDonald is involved with grant writing, intervention development, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation. Ms. McDonald is currently an investigator on a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded study - the Home-Based Blood Pressure Interventions for African Americans study and the Patient Activation Measure project. Ms. McDonald was the Project Manager for a large Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-sponsored project that tested two alternative information-based strategies designed to improve provider performance and promote adherence to evidence-based practice guidelines for heart failure and pain management among home health care nurses. She was also involved in managing two oter AHRQ-sponsored projects on patient safety.

Ms. McDonald is a graduate of New York University's Stern School of Business and received a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in research from Fordham University. Before joining VNSNY, Ms. McDonald worked with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Psychiatry and Pain Service and the Oncology Symptom Control Research Group at Community Cancer Care of Indiana. The research that she was involved in focused on symptom control in cancer and AIDS patients. Specifically, she managed projects about the physical and psychological impact of pain on AIDS patients and she was co-investigator and coordinator of an intervention project on treating depression in cancer patients.

Feldman, P.H., McDonald, M.V., Mongoven, J., Peng, T., Gerber, L., & Pezzin, L.E. 2009
Home-based blood pressure interventions for African Americans.
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2(3): 241-248.

McDonald, M.V., Pezzin, L.E., Peng, T.R., & Feldman, P.H. 2009
Understanding the complexity of hypertensive African American home care patients: Challenges to intervention.
Ethnicity & Disease: 19: 148-153

Mcdonald, M.V., King, L.J., Moodie M., Feldman P.H., 2008.
Exploring Diabetic Care Deficiencies and Adverse Events in Home Healthcare
Journal of Healthcare Quality 30(6):5-12.

McDonald, M.V. & Peterson, L.E. 2008.
Finding Success in Medication Management.
Home Health Care Management & Practice. 20(2):135-140

Prince, G.J. & McDonald, M.
Research on Changing Practitioner and Patient Behaviors.
Home Healthcare Nurse. 25(2): 89-93.

Feldman, P., McDonald, M., Rosati, R., Murtaugh, C., Kovner, C.T., Goldberg, J.D. & King, L.
Exploring the potential utility of automated drug alerts in home health care.
Journal of Healthcare Quality 28(1):29-40.

Feldman, P.H., Murtaugh, C.M., Pezzin, L.E., McDonald, M.V., & Peng, T.R. 2005.
Just-in-time evidence-based e-mail "reminders" in home health care: Impact on patient outcomes.
Health Services Research, 40(3): 859-879.

McDonald, M.V., Pezzin, L.E., Feldman, P.H., Murtaugh, C.M., & Peng, T.R. 2005.
Can just-in-time evidence-based "reminders" improve pain management among home heatlh care nurses and their patients?
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 29(5): 474-488.

Murtaugh, C.M., Pezzin, L.E., McDonald, M.V., Feldman, P.H., & Peng, T.R. 2005.
Just-in-time evidence-based e-mail "reminders" in home health care: Impact on nurse practices.
Health Services Research, 40(3): 843-858.

Feldman, P.H.& McDonald, M.V. 2004.
Conducting translation research in the home care setting: Lessons from a just-in-time reminder study.
World Views on Evidence Based Nursing, First Quarter: 49-59..

McDonald, M. and Nadash, P. 2003
Effective health care: Integrating research into practice.
Caring 22(7): 52-55.

Passik, S., Kirsh, K., Rosenfeld, B., McDonald, M., and Theobald, D. 2001.
The changeable nature of patients' fears regarding chemotherapy: Implications for palliative care.
Journal of Pain Symptom Management, 21: 113-120

Passik, S., Kirsh, K., McDonald, M., Ahn, S., Russak, S., Martin, L., Rosenfeld, B., Breitbart, W., and Portenoy, R. 2000.
A pilot survey of aberrant drug-taking attitudes and behaviors in samples of cancer and AIDS patients.
Journal of Pain Symptom Management, 19(4): 272-286.

McDonald, M., Passik, S., Dugan, W., Rosenfeld, B., Theobald, D., and Edgerton, S. 1999.
Nurses' recognition of depression in their patients with cancer.
Oncology Nursing Forum, 26: 593-599.

Vogl, D., Rosenfeld, B., Breitbart, W., Thaler, H., Passik, S., McDonald, M., and Portenoy, R. 1999.
Symptom prevalence, characteristics, and distress in AIDS outpatients.
Journal of Pain Symptom Management, 18(4): 253-262.

Dugan, W., McDonald, M., Passik, S., Rosenfeld, B., Theobald, D., and Edgerton, S. 1998.
Use of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale in cancer patients: Feasibility as a screening tool.
Psycho-Oncology, 7: 483-493.

Breitbart, W., Passik, S., McDonald, M., Rosenfeld, B., Smith, M., Kaim, M., and Funesti-Esch, J. 1998.
Patient-related barriers to pain management in ambulatory AIDS patients.
Pain, 76(1-2):9-16.

Passik, S. and McDonald, M. 1998.
Psychosocial aspects of upper extremity lymphedema in women treated for breast cancer.
Cancer, 83(Suppl. 12): 2817-2820.

Breitbart, W., McDonald, M., Rosenfeld, B., Monkman, N., and Passik, S. 1998.
Fatigue in ambulatory AIDS patients.
Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 15(3):159-167.

Passik, S., Dugan, W., McDonald, M., Rosenfeld, B., Theobald, D., and Edgarton, S. 1998.
Oncologists' recognition of depression in their patients with cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 16: 1594-1600.

Passik, S., McDonald, M., Dugan, W., Edgerton, S., and Roth, A. 1997. Depression in cancer patients: Recognition and treatment.
Medscape, [On-line medical journal at www.Medscape.com]

Hewitt, D., McDonald, M., Portenoy, R., Rosenfeld, B., Passik, S., and Breitbart, W. 1997.
Pain syndromes and etiologies in ambulatory AIDS patients.
Pain, 70:117-123.

Breitbart, W., McDonald, M., Rosenfeld, B., Passik, S., Hewitt, D., Thaler, H., and Portenoy, R. 1996.
Pain experience in ambulatory AIDS patients - I: Pain characteristics and medical correlates.
Pain, 68: 317-321.

Breitbart, W., Rosenfeld, B., McDonald, M., Passik, S., Hewitt, D., Thaler, H., and Portenoy, R. 1996.
Pain experience in ambulatory AIDS Patients - II: Impact on functioning and quality of life.
Pain, 68: 323-328.

Breitbart, W. and McDonald, M. 1996.
Pharmacologic pain management in HIV/AIDS.
Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, 2:17-26.

McDonald, M., Passik, S., and Coyle, N. 2000.
Addressing the needs of the patient who requests physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.
In: Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine, Chochinov, H. and Breitbart, W., eds. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 349-356.

Passik, S., McDonald, M., Rosenfeld, B., and Breitbart, W. 1996.
End-of-life issues in patients with AIDS: Clinical and research considerations.
In: Drug Use in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, Pattin, M. and Lipman, A., eds. New York: The Hawthorn Press, Inc., 91-111.