# COVID-19 Knowledge and Attitudes among Nursing Home Patients, Family and Staff.

> **NIH NIH R21** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $163,750

## Abstract

COVID19 has especially impacted residents in skilled nursing facilities and long term care
(SNF/LTC). Who are at extraordinary risk for infection and mortality. Residents with dementia
are at even higher risk because of their need for individual personal care, lack of cognition, and
the impact of social distancing and reduced social interaction on their underlying dementia. The
staff and family members at SNF/LTCs are facing major challenges in confronting a new
infectious disease, imposing visitation and socialization limits, and needing to identify new
workflows to provide care to this group of residents who often have significant physical and
mental health impairment
This Supplement builds on our previous R21 work in SNF/LTCs and partners with 2 Baltimore
SNF/LTCF network. We will use two complementary models to inform formative research and to
develop a survey instrument which will ultimately guide an intervention: (1) Knowledge,
Attitudes and Behavior (KAB) which is individual-focused; and, (2) Systems Engineering
Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS), a Human Factors and Systems Engineering model, which
defines the interactions among humans and other elements in complex sociotechnical work
systems. Integrating both models will identify both knowledge gaps for the educational
intervention and facilitators and barriers within the work system that may require structural
modification. This is an NIA-defined Stage 0 Behavioral Intervention. The formative research
phase of Aim 1 will include in-depth qualitative research with resident, family, and staff
stakeholders in SNF/LTCFs. This will include 25 in-depth interviews with residents and/or their
family members, 15 interviews with facility staff. The interview domains will address both KAB
and human factors issues including intervention facilitators and barriers. This will inform
development of a survey instrument in Aim 2, which combines the KAB and SEIPs approaches
and which will be piloted in 50 residents/family and 20 staff members, to include post-hoc
feasibility assessments. Data obtained from the formative research and pilot surveys will
support the ultimate objective of developing an interactive intervention in Aim 3 based on
behavioral science and human factors engineering principles, which will inform facility workflow
redesign and a potential clinical trial intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10157015
- **Project number:** 3R21AG061482-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan M Zenilman
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $163,750
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-08-15 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10157015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10157015, COVID-19 Knowledge and Attitudes among Nursing Home Patients, Family and Staff. (3R21AG061482-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10157015. Licensed CC0.

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