Columbia Nursing Awarded $7.7 million in NIA, AHRQ Grants

Columbia Nursing investigators have received two R01 grants to study disparities in the impact of COVID-19 on nursing home and home health care patients, and an R18 award to adapt and test a mobile health app for people living with HIV for Latino patients. 

Professor Jingjing Shang and Professor Patricia W. Stone received a $3,374,803 R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging for a four-year study of the impact of COVID-19 on care transitions and health outcomes in vulnerable older patients. 

Findings from the “ImpAct of COVID-19 on CaRe TransitiOns and health OutcomeS in Vulnerable PopulationS in Nursing Homes and Home HealthCARE Agencies (ACROSS-STUDY)” will inform nursing homes, home health care agencies, and policy makers in planning for infectious disease emergencies and decreasing health disparities. 

Professor Shang also received a five-year, $2,443,775 R01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for the “Disparities in Infection in Home Health and Patients/Caregivers’ Perceptions (Dis-Infection in HHC)” study, which will investigate socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 cases and other infection events in home health care patients before and during the pandemic and develop a home-based infection prevention and control (IPC) program.  

Previous research by Professor Shang and her colleagues showed that uncontrolled environment and limited resources make IPC a continuing challenge in the home health care setting. “With the new award from AHRQ, our team is aiming to better understand the barriers to effective IPC among socioeconomically disadvantaged home care patients, and develop an IPC program to address the infection-related health disparity in home health care settings,” she said. 

AHRQ also awarded Professor Rebecca Schnall, PhD ‘09, $1,932,705 for “Dissemination of the WiseApp for Improving Health Outcomes Across Settings,” a five-year, R18 study of a mobile health app designed to help people living with HIV adhere to antiretroviral therapy. The award will support translation and cultural adaptation of WiseApp for Latinos in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, as well as a randomized controlled trial of the adapted app’s efficacy in this patient population.