Key Dates

Related Announcements

• November 29, 2023 - Notice of Pre-Application Webinar for NOT-AG-23-060, "Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Telehealth for People and Families Living with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD)". See Notice NOT-AG-23-073
• March 31, 2022 - Leveraging Health Information Technology (Health IT) to Address and Reduce Health Care Disparities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-22-145.
• January 11, 2022 - Health Care Models for Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions from Populations that Experience Health Disparities: Advancing Health Care towards Health Equity (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional). See NOFO PAR-22-092.
• December 22, 2021 - Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-22-093.
• December 22, 2021 - Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R21 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-22-094.
• August 11, 2021 - Pragmatic Trials for Dementia Care and Caregiver Support (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required). See NOFO PAR-21-308.
• May 7, 2020 - NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). See NOFO PA-20-195.
• May 5, 2020 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). See NOFO PA-20-185.
  

Issued by

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to indicate NIA’s interest in (1) retrospective and new examinations that determine the impact of telehealth on cost, access, quality, timeliness, and equity of care for people and families living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD), and (2) prospectively identify telehealth care delivery methods that work well for people and families living with AD/ADRD.

Background

AD/ADRD represents a significant and escalating public health challenge globally. As the population ages, the prevalence of dementia is expected to rise, placing a considerable burden on healthcare systems and caregivers. Providing comprehensive and timely care to individuals living with dementia is a complex task, often hindered by barriers such as geographical distance, mobility limitations, caregiver burden, and the shortage of specialized healthcare professionals. Recent years have witnessed a scale up of telehealth-enabled care delivery in the United States. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rapid expansion in the use of telehealth for medical and social care delivery. However, the extent to which telehealth delivery of services works for people and families living with AD/ADRD remains underexplored.

Telehealth, the use of telecommunications and information technology to deliver healthcare services remotely, has shown promise in various medical specialties. Additionally, the delivery of care via telehealth continues to evolve. Telehealth interventions may enhance patient access to specialized care, improve caregiver support, and enable remote monitoring of patients' cognitive and functional status. Notwithstanding, it remains underexplored to what extent telehealth works for individuals with AD/ADRD and their families. For example, it is unknown if this population faces unique barriers to using telehealth and whether the quality and equity of telehealth enabled care is comparable to in-person delivery.

In response to the growing and changing landscape of healthcare and technology, this NOSI encourages research focused on the impact of care delivered via telehealth for people living with AD/ADRD.

Objectives

Projects submitted in response to this NOSI must address one or more of the following objectives:

1. Telehealth Delivery Efficacy and Effectiveness: Investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of using telehealth as a mode of home health care and care delivery, in the place of in-person care, for delivering dementia care, including but not limited to remote cognitive assessments, behavioral interventions, caregiver training, care coordination for multiple chronic conditions for persons with AD/ADRD, and psychosocial support.
2. Telehealth and Health Disparities: Examine telehealth and healthcare disparities among individuals living with AD/ADRD, including those from underserved populations, rural areas, and minority communities.
3. Usability, Acceptability, and Accessibility: Evaluate the usability and accessibility of telehealth technologies for people and families living with AD/ADRD, examining whether these tools accommodate the unique cognitive and functional challenges associated with AD/ADRD. Study the use of telehealth to address acute illness, minor injury, and primary care service provision.
4. Cost and Coverage: Assess the coverage and changes in coverage of telehealth services in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Assess cost of implementing telehealth interventions for dementia care compared to traditional in-person approaches, considering both short-term and long-term outcomes.
5. Quality: Examine the quality of care delivered via telehealth to people living with ADRD compared to traditional in-person approaches, considering both short-term and long-term outcomes. Such outcomes may include diagnostic accuracy and patient, caregiver, and clinician assessment of telehealth enabled service delivery.
6. Infrastructure: Assess infrastructure gaps within the realm of telehealth to reach people living with ADRD. Identify and analyze the shortcomings and necessities that must be addressed to advance telehealth services in underserved rural areas. Evaluate the compatibility of technology-intensive telemedicine methods within and among different modes of accessing telehealth care (e.g., variability in internet access, wireless technology, etc.) and factors including but not limited to technological literacy, support, and security standards.
7. Systems and Providers: Study supply side (health system and provider) adoption and use of telehealth and its impact on people and families living with AD/ADRD. Research is needed to identify the best practices and limitations for virtually delivering geriatric-focused models of care to persons living with AD/ADRD.

NIA is interested in projects that use innovative approaches, demonstrate interdisciplinary collaboration, and propose well-designed studies with rigorous evaluation methods. Novel interventions should follow the NIH Stage Model of Behavioral Intervention development. Studies of racial and ethnic disparities in telehealth should employ the NIA Framework on Health Disparities.

Application and Submission Information

This notice applies to due dates on or after January 7, 2024 and subsequent receipt dates through November 13, 2024.

Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following notices of funding opportunity (NOFO) or any reissues of these announcements through the expiration date of this notice.

• PAR-22-145, Leveraging Health Information Technology (Health IT) to Address and Reduce Health Care Disparities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
• PAR-22-092, Health Care Models for Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions from Populations that Experience Health Disparities: Advancing Health Care towards Health Equity (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)
• PAR-22-093, Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
• PAR-22-094, Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
• PAR-21-308, Pragmatic Trials for Dementia Care and Caregiver Support (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-20-195, NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-185, NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the notice of funding opportunity used for submission must be followed, with the following additions:

• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-AG-23-060 (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to the Scientific/Research, Peer Review, and Financial/Grants Management contacts in Section VII of the listed notice of funding opportunity.