Alexa J Watach, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing at Penn Medicine Sleep Medicine
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences
- Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership
- Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice
awatach@nursing.upenn.edu
Dr. Watach is a nurse researcher and implementation scientist with a program of research focused on accelerating the translation of evidence to practice in sleep medicine. Her work prioritizes stakeholder engagement and collaborative approaches to bridge gaps between researchers and non-research partners including patients, community members, families, clinicians and organizations to ensure a diverse representation of perspectives and voices when shaping research agendas and ideating practice change. Her program of research focuses on the design and implementation of a variety of patient-centered, innovative, scalable, evidence-based solutions for driving transformation of outcomes in sleep medicine. Dr. Watach’s overarching research priority is to include and empower receivers/end-users of the healthcare system through collaboration to build contextually relevant, sustainable solutions.
“At Penn Nursing, we cultivate agents of change through the development of great nursing leaders that inspire with empathy and vision, empower with evidence, and lead with integrity.”
Education
- PhD, Penn State University, 2017
- MS, Penn State University, 2014
- BSN, Penn State University, 2012
Innovation
- PennPALS (Penn PAP Automated Learning System): PennPALS is an automated telemonitoring program (powered by Way to Health, supported by the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Transformation & Innovation) that uses daily positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy data and pre-defined algorithms to generate assistive troubleshooting messages for patients with obstructive sleep apnea that are acclimating to PAP treatment. Patients are auto-enrolled into the program when a PAP machine is ordered at the Penn Sleep Center and patients receive bidirectional text messaging support during their first 90-days of treatment.
- PEARS (c) (Patient Education Animation Resources for Sleep): Watach developed brief (<2 minute) animated educational videos for adults with sleep apnea treated with positive airway pressure therapy during her postdoctoral fellowship. The video library has recently undergone a health literacy evaluation, cultural and linguistic adaptation (Spanish), and pilot testing.
Social Justice
The two most common adult sleep disorders are obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and insomnia, both of which can negatively affect people’s lives, health and the economy. Black, Indigenous and People of Color adults are more likely to have and experience more severe OSA and insomnia but have lower rates of diagnosis and treatment. To address these health disparities, Dr. Watach is co-leading a PCORI funded initiative to build critical infrastructure for Partnered Research In Sleep Medicine (PRISM) to ensure patient-centeredness and partnerships are integrated into sleep research to support equitable solutions for sleep disorder disparities. This work relies on collaborations with four faith and health-based partner organizations in the West Philadelphia community.
Teaching
Dr. Watach teaches in the DNP Program. She supports students through the journey of becoming skilled practice change leaders, imparting knowledge and skills necessary to assess and transform healthcare challenges into improvement opportunities. Additionally, Dr. Watach co-lead’s an initiative focused on providing sleep health and disorders education to nurse practitioner (NP) students at Penn, and recently, NP students across the US.
Research
Dr. Watach previously completed a NHLBI-sponsored T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving concentrated training in sleep disorders, qualitative research methods, and implementation science. Over the course of this training, she identified issues with current OSA/PAP care practices, particularly troubled by the fact that education provided to patients about their diagnosis/treatment is inconsistent, poorly timed, and too complex to be well understood by the average adult. As such, she developed an efficient, scalable, evidence-based patient education resource, PEARS (highlighted in innovations above). This led to both scientific and clinical collaborations through expressed interest in the adoption of this innovative product. Dr. Watach expanded her research training in patient-centered outcomes research, stakeholder engagement, and innovation as an AHRQ/PCOR sponsored K12 Scholar in the Penn Center for Health Care Innovation. This led to the development of a clinical program, PennPALS (highlighted in innovations above), that is currently undergoing a program evaluation at the patient, provider, and system-level. Her passion for stakeholder engagement and collaborative approaches has recently led to funded work that involves partnering with the local West Philadelphia community to bring community voice to shaping sleep research agendas and resources.
Clinical Practice
Dr. Watach is jointly appointed in the Sleep Division at Penn Medicine, where she oversees PennPALS, a PAP telemonitoring program. Collaborating with sleep center staff, nurses, managers, providers, and division leadership, Dr. Watach is advancing the clinical practice in innovative and evidence-based care. Dr. Watach also serves as a liaison between the School of Nursing and Sleep Medicine to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations. This relationship has recently facilitated the establishment of sleep education into the nurse practitioner (NP) curriculum and the development of a NP clinical rotation in Sleep Medicine.
Accepting Mentees?
- Yes
