Gaps in care and quality of life for rural older adults with dementia and their caregivers
Disparities in the Care and Quality of Life of Rural Older Adults with Dementia and their Caregivers
Researchers are comparing access to care and quality of life for older adults with dementia and their caregivers living in different rural areas to find where support is most needed.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11265782 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project looks across rural communities to find where people with dementia and their caregivers have the hardest time getting long-term care and support. The team will analyze health claims, geographic and care-transition records to measure things like days away from home, late-life moves, and dying far from home. They will also collect direct reports from people with dementia and their caregivers about wellbeing, meaning, and caregiver burden and combine those findings with policy analyses of changes in long-term care funding. Together these methods will map how disparities vary across rural places and over time to point to practical places for program and policy changes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Older adults living in rural parts of the United States with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias and their family or unpaid caregivers would be the ideal participants.
Not a fit: People who live in urban areas or do not have dementia, and caregivers whose needs are unrelated to long-term care access, are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could guide policies and programs to improve access to home and community supports and reduce burden for rural people with dementia and their caregivers.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has documented rural differences using measures like hospitalization and mortality, but studies that combine claims-based measures with direct reports of quality of life and caregiver burden across nuanced definitions of rurality are relatively new.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Covinsky, Kenneth E. — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Covinsky, Kenneth E.
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 below.