# CommunityRx-Dementia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2021 · $776,220

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
More than 16 million unpaid caregivers care for a rapidly growing population of home-dwelling people with
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the US. ADRD caregivers have poorer physical health
than their peers and high rates of burden and depression. Stigma and social isolation are common. Federal law
calls for connecting caregivers to community resources (e.g. ADRD education, support groups, respite care),
with special concern for reducing health disparities. In parallel, CMS is testing routine assessment and referral
for unmet health-related social needs (HRSNs) (e.g. food, housing, interpersonal safety and social support).
Demands of caregiving commonly produce financial strain, yet HRSNs remain overlooked in this population. Low
intensity, scalable resource referral solutions are needed to manage and promote the health and well-being of
all ADRD caregivers and persons with dementia (PWD). The proposed research, in a predominantly African
American/Black population on Chicago’s South Side, will fill a gap in knowledge about how to best intervene to
support ADRD caregivers. We will conduct a randomized, controlled efficacy trial to test the effect of the
CommunityRx-Dementia (CRx-D) intervention on caregiver and care recipient outcomes over 12 months. CRx-
D builds on CommunityRx, an information-based intervention that systematically matches people to nearby
community resources for HRSNs, caregiving and other self-care needs. Caregivers will be stratified by unmet
HRSNs and randomized to usual care or usual care + CRx-D. During a primary care visit, caregivers assigned
to CRx-D will receive: (a) information about common resource needs among ADRD caregivers, to normalize
these needs; (b) a personalized resource "prescription" (HealtheRx-D); (c) demonstration on use of an online
Community Resource Finder; and (d) coaching on how to activate community resources, including how to reach
the CRx-D community resource specialist. The CRx-D group will also receive texts over 8 weeks offering
additional support to activate resources. The specific aims of this research are to (1) Among caregivers with
unmet HRSNs, evaluate the effects of CRx-D versus usual care on caregiver self-efficacy and secondary
psychosocial and behavioral outcomes, as well as health and healthcare utilization; (2) Evaluate acceptability of
the intervention and the effects of CRx-D versus usual care on the health care experience, including satisfaction
with care, experiences of stigma during clinical care and likelihood of sharing community resource information
with others; (3) Qualitatively assess caregivers’: experiences with the CRx-D intervention; the role of stigma in
disclosing needs and accessing resources; and experiences sharing resource information with others. Our
objective is to promote caregiver health and well-being by intervening with caregivers at the point of their own
primary healthcare. The long-term goal of this research i...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10160740
- **Project number:** 5R01AG064949-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** ELBERT S. HUANG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $776,220
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-15 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10160740

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10160740, CommunityRx-Dementia (5R01AG064949-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10160740. Licensed CC0.

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