2 minute read
Redefining “Significance”
Andrea Taylor, RD, CNSC | Manager of National Advocacy
Beth Gore, Alaina McCormick and I attended the American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition) (ASPEN) Nutrition Science & Practice Conference in early March in Tampa, Florida, on behalf of the Oley Foundation.
For the third year in a row, Oley presented the opening symposium, generously funded by an education grant from one of our corporate partners, Takeda. This year’s presentation was entitled “Significance Beyond Statistics: Redefining the P-Value.” The p-value is often referenced in research as a marker of whether results are significant (as Dr. Mercer notes in his article, which begins on page 10). But who gets to decide what is significant to a patient? We wanted to get clinicians to rethink the p-value, where “p” stands for patient. We intentionally chose speakers with real-life experience and over half of the speakers were patients or caregivers. Based on the feedback we received, and the number of tissues used, the presentation was a success.
Since it was near Beth’s hometown, her husband and five of her six children were able to attend. Her youngest daughter, Zoe, gave an impactful presentation during the symposium on the sibling perspective. Her youngest son, Manny, who lives on home parenteral (IV) support, was also in attendance. His favorite part was wheeling through the exhibit hall meeting attendees.
While we were there, we also had the honor of witnessing long-time Oley member Michael Medwar being awarded the Lyn Howard Nutrition Support Consumer Advocate Award. Michael’s personal experience on home parenteral nutrition, as well as his professional experience supporting and empowering home enteral and parenteral patients, made him the perfect candidate for the award, which was named in honor of Oley cofounder Dr. Lyn Howard.
Next year, ASPEN will be held in Columbus, Ohio, March 22–25. We’re already planning how we can top this year! ■
Watch on YouTube
A recording of the presentations from “Significance Beyond Statistics: Redefining the P-Value” will be available for viewing on the Oley YouTube channel. Watch oley.org for an announcement.
