# A Dyadic Telehealth Program to Support Alzheimer’s Disease Patients and Their Caregivers During COVID-19

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $48,164

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Yeonsu Song, PhD, RN, FNP is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing at UCLA with joint
appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine and an Affiliated
Investigator at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Currently she is leading a pilot clinical trial of a
face-to-face intervention program which primarily focuses on improving sleep among AD patients and their
caregivers as a part of her K award. This proposed administrative supplement focuses on addressing mental
health and sleep issues using telehealth among this vulnerable group during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will
also address issues related to adherence to social distancing and safer-at-home orders that may exacerbate
sleep and mental health symptoms during this pandemic. This supplement will provide her with additional
training opportunities and preliminary data necessary for her to prepare an independent research grant.
Career development and training plan: New training areas include telehealth and mental health. Mentors in her
current K award will continue to provide Dr. Song with their expertise for this supplement: Drs. Jennifer Martin
(behavioral telehealth medicine), Cathy Alessi (sleep medicine), Michael Irwin (depression and sleep), and
Edmond Teng (assessment of AD). A new consultant (Dr. Mary Cadogan) in this supplement will also guide Dr.
Song to refine the mental health-related intervention components including depression and anxiety in a
telehealth platform. Dr. Song will draw on resources available through UCLA’s School of Nursing, CTSI,
UCLA’s Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, and the VA Geriatric Research,
Education, and Clinical Center. She will also complete additional training activities.
Research plan: The current proposal aims to evaluate the feasibility of a dyadic telehealth program addressing
sleep and psychological symptoms (depression and anxiety) related to the COVID-19. In the first phase of the
project, we will refine the telehealth intervention with input and feedback from three dyads. In the second
phase of the study, we will pilot test the program in a one-group, pretest-posttest design with 12 dyads.
Participants will be assessed at baseline and post-intervention on sleep, depression, and anxiety. The
telehealth intervention program will involve 6 sessions and include new strategies addressing psychological
symptoms as well as behavioral sleep strategies used for her current K award project. A unique aspect of the
proposed work is that it targets the most common health issues of both members of the group arisen during the
COVID-19 pandemic in a telehealth format. It will generate feasibility data on delivering dyadic behavioral
strategies (e.g., techniques of behavioral activation and social engagement) tailored to telehealth and increase
adaptability in multiple community settings.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10287329
- **Project number:** 3K23AG055668-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Yeonsu Song
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $48,164
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-05-15 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10287329

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10287329, A Dyadic Telehealth Program to Support Alzheimer’s Disease Patients and Their Caregivers During COVID-19 (3K23AG055668-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10287329. Licensed CC0.

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