How pay, staffing rules, and unions affect dementia caregiving
Strengthening the Dementia Care Workforce: Analyzing Economic Policies' influence on Workers and their Patients Living with Dementia
['FUNDING_R01'] · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · NIH-11176153
This project looks at how wages, staffing rules, and unionization in home and nursing care affect workers and the care people with Alzheimer's receive.
Quick facts
| Phase | ['FUNDING_R01'] |
|---|---|
| Study type | Nih_funding |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (nih funded) |
| Locations | 1 site (PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES) |
| Trial ID | NIH-11176153 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this research studies
From my perspective as someone living with or caring for a person with dementia, the team will connect information about policy changes (like minimum wage increases, pandemic pay protections, staffing regulations, and union activity) to data on home health and nursing home workers and the patients they serve. They will use state and federal policy variation as natural experiments and analyze large administrative datasets and workforce records to track wages, turnover, and poverty among caregivers. The researchers will then link those workforce changes to measures of care continuity and patient outcomes for people with Alzheimer's and related dementias. Their goal is to show whether improving worker pay and protections leads to more stable, higher-quality care for people like me.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who receive home-based care or reside in nursing homes in the United States.
Not a fit: People not receiving formal home health or nursing home services, or those without dementia, are less likely to see direct benefits from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could drive policies that improve caregiver pay and staffing, which may result in more stable and higher-quality care for people with Alzheimer's disease.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have linked better staffing and higher pay to improved nursing home quality, but direct evidence tying those workforce policies to outcomes specifically for Alzheimer’s patients is limited.
Where this research is happening
PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES
- UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA — PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES (ACTIVE)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: COE, NORMA B — UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- Study coordinator: COE, NORMA B
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.
Conditions: Alzheimer disease dementia, Alzheimer syndrome, Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia