State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 033

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) - RFA-AG-24-033

1) What is the State Dementia Care Research Center funding opportunity?

The State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-AG-24-033) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to build state-focused research infrastructure. Its purpose is to strengthen how dementia care is coordinated, integrated, and transitioned across community settings, and to generate practical evidence that stakeholders can use to improve real-world care for people living with dementia (PLWD) and support their caregivers and care partners.

2) What is the main goal of this program?

The central goal is to improve real-world dementia care and caregiver support by producing actionable, state-relevant evidence. The Center is intended to help health systems, social service providers, and policymakers make informed decisions that improve care coordination, care integration, and care transitions across settings.

3) Why is the program focused on states rather than a national approach?

The program is built on the premise that Alzheimer disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) care varies widely across the United States because states differ in benefits, coverage rules, delivery systems, workforce capacity, and access to home and community-based services (HCBS). Rather than assuming one national model applies everywhere, the Center is expected to study and account for these state-level differences directly.

4) What kinds of dementia care issues is the Center expected to study?

The Center is expected to support research on how AD/ADRD care coordination, care integration, and care transitions actually function within a state. This includes examining movement between settings such as hospitals, primary care, specialty care, home care, adult day programs, nursing facilities, and other community-based supports, and identifying gaps or breakdowns that contribute to poor outcomes, duplicated services, caregiver burden, avoidable emergency visits, and inequities in access.

5) What are the three core activities expected of the Center?

Based on the opportunity description, the Center is expected to do three intertwined things:

• Support research on how dementia care coordination, integration, and transitions work within a state, including identifying where systems fail or fragment.
• Build and link data resources that combine HCBS and other social service information with health care data inside states to better understand full care pathways.
• Actively disseminate findings to stakeholders beyond academia (providers, community organizations, the public, and policymakers) so results translate into decisions and system improvements.

6) What does the opportunity mean by care coordination, care integration, and care transitions?

The opportunity emphasizes how dementia-related services connect and hand off across settings and sectors. Care coordination and integration point to how medical care and social services work together (or fail to), while care transitions focus on what happens when a person moves between settings (for example, hospital to home care, primary care to specialty care, or home to nursing facility) and whether those transitions are smooth, equitable, and supportive for PLWD and caregivers.

7) What settings and services are included in the scope of research?

The description explicitly includes hospitals, primary care, specialty care, home care, adult day programs, nursing facilities, and other community-based supports. The scope also includes HCBS and other social services that impact dementia care experiences and outcomes.

8) Why is data linkage between health care and social services emphasized?

A practical barrier in dementia services research is that social services and medical care often exist in separate data systems. The Center program highlights building and linking data resources to connect HCBS and other social services with health care data within states, enabling a more complete view of care pathways and where coordination breaks down.

9) What kinds of outcomes or system problems is the Center expected to address?

The Center is expected to identify and study gaps and breakdowns that lead to poor outcomes, duplicated services, caregiver burden, avoidable emergency visits, and inequities in access. The intent is to generate evidence that helps improve the functioning of dementia care systems and transitions in real-world contexts.

10) How does the opportunity address disparities and inequities?

The opportunity explicitly focuses on heterogeneity and disparities, recognizing that access and quality can vary sharply within states and across states. The Center is expected to examine differences tied to region, rural versus urban settings, income, race and ethnicity, disability status, and other factors linked to structural inequities, with an emphasis on policy relevance and health care disparities.

11) Does the program expect a consortium or collaborative structure?

Yes. The description states that the Center is expected to build a consortium of scholars who can examine differences across and within states. This reflects an organized research enterprise approach rather than isolated studies.

12) Is the program intended to be descriptive research only?

No. The opportunity states that it is not simply asking for descriptive studies; it is aiming for an organized research enterprise that can explain how state-level policies, financing mechanisms, delivery models, and local service ecosystems shape dementia care experiences and outcomes, with emphasis on implementation milestones related to care integration and policy relevance.

13) What is the funding mechanism and what does U54 mean here?

This opportunity uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (U54). The description notes that cooperative agreements typically involve substantial NIH involvement in the direction and oversight of the funded Center compared to a standard research project grant, reflecting the infrastructure-building and coordinated nature of the work.

14) What does "Clinical Trial Not Allowed" mean for this opportunity?

The funding opportunity is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which signals that applicants should not propose NIH-defined clinical trials as part of the Center activities.

15) Which NIH area and CFDA listing is associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is categorized under Health and is associated with CFDA 93.866, as described in the provided information.

16) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is broad across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations.

17) Are minority-serving institutions and community-based organizations specifically included as eligible applicants?

Yes. The opportunity highlights additional eligible applicant types including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). It also references faith-based and community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

18) Are foreign organizations or international components allowed?

No. The opportunity clearly restricts foreign involvement: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.

19) What stakeholders are intended to use the results from the Center?

The Center is expected to disseminate findings beyond academia to providers, community organizations, the public, and state and local policymakers. The program is designed so that evidence produced can be used for decision-making and system improvements.

20) What is the stated application closing date in the provided information?

The original closing date listed in the provided information is November 14, 2023.

21) Is the award ceiling or the expected number of awards provided?

No. The provided information states that the award ceiling and the expected number of awards are not specified in the source information provided.

22) What makes this opportunity a "capacity-building" initiative?

The opportunity is described as capacity-building because it is designed to create and strengthen state-focused research infrastructure, including the development and linkage of data resources and an organized consortium approach, along with active dissemination strategies aimed at real-world system change.

23) How does the program connect research to policy and practice?

The opportunity emphasizes policy relevance and dissemination to decision-makers and stakeholders. It aims to produce practical evidence that health systems, social service providers, and policymakers can use, and it specifically targets understanding how state-level policies, financing mechanisms, delivery models, and service ecosystems shape outcomes and care experiences.

24) What populations are centered in the program's purpose?

The program is centered on people living with dementia (PLWD) and on improving support for their caregivers and care partners. It also highlights the importance of understanding disparities affecting different groups and communities within and across states.

25) What is the overall takeaway of this grant opportunity?

Overall, this NIH cooperative agreement is intended to create a state-focused Center that studies and improves dementia care coordination, integration, and transitions; builds integrated health and social service data resources; and disseminates actionable findings to stakeholders, with an explicit focus on heterogeneity, disparities, and policy relevance in AD/ADRD care systems.