Nicholas A. Rattray, PhD

Contact : nrattray@iu.edu , (317) 988-9762

Making the familiar strange--and that which appears 'strange' more familiar--can help scientists better understand the cultural and structural forces that shape healing and health outcomes.

Initiatives

Care Delivery

Research Scientist, William M. Tierney Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute
Core Investigator, VA Health Systems Research Center for Health Information and Communication
Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, IU School of Medicine
Affiliate Research Scientist, Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University

Dr. Nick Rattray is a medical anthropologist with expertise in health communication, veteran community reintegration, lived experiences of disability, and implementation science.

Dr. Rattray’s current reseach studies focus on improving the delivery of Telehealth in the VA, a learning health system approach to reducing readmissions for geriatric patients, and studying headache care. In 2023, he completed a five-year VA Career Development Award (Rehabilitation Research, CDA-2). He is a scientist on the Implementation Core of the VA’s QUERI-funded “EXpanding expertise Through E-health Network D” (EXTEND) project, which seeks to enhance veteran access to care by optimizing telehealth services. His other research seeks to understand how context and culture affect communication in clinical handoffs and transitions of care. Dr. Rattray collaborates with Purdue scientists to study food insecurity among veterans in Indiana (funded by the US Department of Agriculture) and to examine the connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s disease among veterans (funded by the US Department of Defense). He also works on projects related to lethal means safety and secure storage involving caregivers and military veterans. Since 2018, he has mentored physicians in the Advanced Scholars Program for Internists in Research and Education (ASPIRE) and has conducted fieldwork in South America.

Dr. Rattray is a fellow in the Society for Applied Anthropology, and is active in the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC). He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Arizona, a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Rutgers University and an undergraduate degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Featured Projects

From Military to Community Life: Reintegrating Veterans with Invisible Injuries

(VA RR&D)

(2018-2023)

Role: Principal Investigator

This career development award proposal aims to understand the post-deployment and transition experiences of veterans with cognitive or mental health conditions that appear invisible to others but may make their reintegration experiences more difficult.

Improving Patient Care and Physician Resilience through Effective Veteran-Centered

(VA IIR)

(2018-2023)

Role: Co-Investigator

This project explores aspects of electronic medical record documentation that enhance or impede physician resilience. Preparation for visits, the enactment of the encounter, and post-visit documentation practices will be studied. A novel curriculum in exam room computing will be tested for its effectiveness on physician resilience.

Expanding Expertise through e-Health Networks (EXTEND)

(VA QUERI)

(2021-2025)

Role: Co-Investigator

EXTEND aims to expand the reach and effectiveness of VA care to improve Veteran outcomes by delivering high-quality evidence-based telehealth care services “Anywhere to Anywhere”; to apply strategies for optimizing shared care between telehealth, specialty, and primary care services; to identify factors that influence adaptation, adoption, and sustainment of VA telehealth services.

ASPIRE: Advanced Scholarship Program for Internists in Research and Education

(IU School of Medicine)

(2016-Present)

Role: Mentor

This mentoring program is designed to help junior faculty develop regional or national recognition in their chose field of interest.

Highlighted Publications

Feb 24, 2022

Modeling Contingency in Veteran Community Reintegration: A Mixed Methods Approach

Publication: Journal of Mixed Methods Research

doi: 10.1177/15586898211059616

Authors: Rattray NA, Miech EJ, True G, Natividad D, Laws B, Frankel RM, Kukla M

Feb 2, 2022

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life only going to a gender wellness clinic": Healthcare experiences of patients of a comprehensive transgender clinic

Publication: Journal of General Internal Medicine

doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07408-5

Authors: Lee JL, Huffman M, Rattray NA, Carnahan JL, Fortenberry JD, Fogel JM, Weiner M, Matthias MS

Jul 21, 2021

Multi-tiered external facilitation: the role of feedback loops and tailored interventions in supporting change in a stepped-wedge implementation trial

Publication: Implementation Science Communications

doi: 10.1186/s43058-021-00180-3

Authors: Penney LS, Damush TM, Rattray NA, Miech EJ, Baird SA; Homoya BJ, Myers LJ, Bravata DM

Jun 8, 2021

The Art of Effective Handoff Communication Among Medical and Surgery Residents

Publication: Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making

doi: 10.1177/15553434211018296

Authors: Rattray N, Flanagan M, Militello L, Barach P, Frankel R

Sep 8, 2020

Assessment of the Protocol-Guided Rapid Evaluation of Veterans Experiencing New Transient Neurological Symptoms (PREVENT) Program for Improving Quality of Care for Transient Ischemic Attack: A Nonrandomized Cluster Trial

Publication: JAMA Network Open

doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.15920

Authors: Bravata DM, Myers LJ, Perkins AJ, Zhang Y, Miech EJ, Rattray NA, Penney LS, Levine DA, Sico JJ, Cheng E, Damush TM

Sep 1, 2020

Empowering implementation teams with a learning health system approach: leveraging data to improve quality of care for transient ischemic attack

Publication: Journal of General Internal Medicine

doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06160-y

Authors: Rattray NA, Damush TD, Miech EJ, Lillie A, Homoya B, Murphy L, Ferguson J, Myers LJ, Giacherio B, Kumar M, Bravata DM

Jun 27, 2019

The long and winding road to postsecondary education for U.S. veterans with invisible injuries

Publication: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

doi: 10.1037/prj0000375

Authors: Rattray NA, Natividad D, True G, Salyers M, Frankel RM, Kukla M

Dec 10, 2018

“Do You Know What I Know”: How Implicit Communication Norms and Recipient Design Shape Patient Handoffs

Publication: Journal of General Internal Medicine

doi 10.1007/s11606-018-4755-5

Authors: Rattray NA, Flanagan ME, Barach P, Ebright P, Militello LG, Gordon HS, Rehman SU, Frankel RM

May 17, 2018

Inside Help: An Integrative Review of Champions in Healthcare-Related Implementation

Publication: Sage Open Medicine

doi: 10.1177/2050312118773261

Authors: Miech E, Rattray, N, Damush T, Flanagan M, Schmid A

Apr 25, 2017

Prime movers: Advanced practice professionals in the role of stroke coordinator

Publication: Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners

doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12462

Authors: Rattray, NA, Damush, TM, Luckhurst, C, Bauer-Martinez, CJ, Homoya, B Miech EJ

2015

A mixed methods study examining work reintegration experiences from the perspectives of Veterans with mental health disorders

Publication: Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development

doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2014.11.0289

Authors: Kukla M, Rattray NA, Salyers MP

Apr 26, 2013

Contesting Urban Space and Disability in Highland Ecuador, City & Society, Journal of the Society for Urban, National and Transnational/Global Anthropology

Publication: City & Society

doi: 10.1111/ciso.12008

Authors: Rattray, NA

In The News

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Nicholas A. Rattray, PhD

Featured Projects

Highlighted Publications