Shirin & Dylan presented posters at the Dartmouth Center for Technology and Behavioral Health Digital Health Summit

Shirin attending the Patient Experience Symposium

Shirin awarded Leslie Center for the Humanities Student Research Fellowship

Shirin is a Computer Science PhD student working at the intersection of healthcare, human experience, and human-computer interaction. Her current research focuses on how contextual factors (e.g., design of healthcare spaces, patient-clinician relationship, informed consent in psychiatry, etc.) can shape patients' experiences and impact their long term health outcomes.

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Language of Pain

Resonance

Overprescription

The focus of this project is on applying natural language processing to patients’ description of pain. In particular, we will be using NLP to compare patients with acute pain with those who have been experiencing chronic pain. Some possible directions for the project can include thematic and semantic analysis. Questions we hope to answer with this project are: (1) how does a chronic patient describe pain?; (2) how does an acute pain patient describe pain?; (3) how do chronic pain and acute pain patients differ in their linguistic expression of pain?; (4) what is the role of metaphors in language around pain?; (5) what is the temporal relationship between pain transitions (from acute to chronic) and language?

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This project explores patient empowerment and the patient-clinician relationship. Our goal is to provide patients with an opportunity to reflect on their medical appointments and interactions. A few relevant research questions are: What types of thoughts are/are not being vocalized by patients during the visit? What are some of the barriers for patients in candidly discussing their experience/concerns/questions with healthcare providers? What are the underlying patterns of communication/behavior? How do these patterns correspond to different demographics? Our hypothesis is that chronic pain patients that candidly share their thoughts with their physician are more willing to reflect on the quality of their visit experience are more engaged in their own care and therefore have better clinical outcomes.&nbsp;

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Overprescription is a significant concern in the United States and across the globe. Studies indicate that approximately 20% of prescription medications are considered medically “unnecessary” by physicians themselves (<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181970">Lyu et al., 2017</a>). The dramatic increase in medication usage is notably prominent in certain subfields of medicine such as psychiatry. Despite the widespread use of psychopharmaceuticals in clinical care, recent research underscores the importance of exercising greater caution in the initiation and continuation of these treatments (<a href="https://www.scielo.br/j/rbp/a/m3gkYBvtNGgS953HdTb7d8k/?lang=en">Damiano &amp; Soares, 2022</a>). For many patients, psychiatric medications not only lead to unbearable side effects, but also bring about intense and prolonged physical and psychological symptoms upon dosage reduction or discontinuation. Adverse effects and the withdrawal experience, however, have long been downplayed in medical practice and understudied in research. Navigating a complex web of systemic issues in healthcare, patients frequently encounter skepticism and lack of support from providers. These individuals experience hopelessness and a profound sense of isolation, with their struggles left unaddressed and misunderstood. This project aims to develop solutions that address overprescription and iatrogenic harm.

On this page

Shirin Amouei

Research Areas

News

Shirin & Dylan presented posters at the Dartmouth Center for Technology and Behavioral Health Digital Health Summit

October 25, 2023

Shirin attending the Patient Experience Symposium

September 18, 2023

Shirin awarded Leslie Center for the Humanities Student Research Fellowship

February 23, 2023

Projects

Language of Pain

Resonance

Overprescription