Boosting self-care and physical activity for older adults with chronic kidney disease
Official title: Activation for Self-Care Needs in Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease: ACTIVE SENIORS with CKD.
Funded at Veterans Health Administration · NIH-11506133 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This program helps older adults with chronic kidney disease build the skills, confidence, and motivation to be more physically active.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Veterans Health Administration NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Nashville, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5IK2CX002595-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11506133 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Older adults with chronic kidney disease—especially sedentary Veterans at risk of frailty—are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are already regularly active, are on dialysis, or have severe mobility or medical limitations that prevent exercise may not benefit from this intervention.
What this research studies
You would be offered a behavior-change program based on the COM-B model that focuses on your capability, opportunity, and motivation to be active. The program targets "patient activation"—your skills and confidence—to increase how often you do physical activity and lower frailty risk. Study staff will track activity, measure muscle strength and frailty markers, and may collect blood samples to understand biological changes and who benefits most. The approach uses pilot data and tailored coaching to identify people most likely to respond.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help older adults with CKD stay more active, build muscle strength, reduce frailty, and lower the risk of dialysis or death.
How similar studies have gone: Prior exercise programs in CKD have improved fitness but often failed to reduce frailty or muscle weakness, so using behavior-change theory to boost patient activation is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Veterans Health Administration
Nashville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nair, Devika — Veterans Health Administration
- Study coordinator: Nair, Devika
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.