# Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment and Outcomes in America: Changing Policies and Systems

> **NIH NIH P01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $271,658

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
We will illustrate how the COVID pandemic effected neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and their management
among nursing home (NH) residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). NPS are
frequent and difficult to manage under normal circumstances, and we hypothesize that COVID-prompted NH
visitor restrictions and staffing reductions stimulated an increase in NPS and, consequently, in antipsychotic
medication prescribing to manage NPS. The scientific premise of this proposal is that the COVID pandemic
provides a unique opportunity to understand the dynamic between staffing, social isolation, NPS, and
psychotropic medication use among NH residents with ADRD. The overall objective of this proposal is to
measure the impact of COVID on resident behaviors and, in turn, the risk-benefit decisions to prescribe
psychotropic medications in response. Our central hypothesis is that NH residents will have higher disruptions
to daily care leading to more NPS and greater use of psychotropic medications during the COVID pandemic,
especially within facilities with higher COVID infection rates. Our approach capitalizes on two data sources to
establish trends in NPS and psychotropic use: national Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments and electronic
medical records (EMR) from a large NH chain with facilities in 30 states (Genesis Healthcare). Our aims are to:
(1) evaluate changes in NPS among NH residents with ADRD during the COVID pandemic; (2) examine
changes in psychotropic medication prescribing among NH residents with ADRD during the COVID pandemic;
and (3) identify the proportion of NH residents with ADRD who remain long-term antipsychotic users during
and post-COVID. The COVID pandemic has highlighted the tremendous needs of NH residents with ADRD.
Ours will be the first large-scale investigation of factors that influence changes in NPS and psychotropic
prescribing among NH residents with ADRD in the U.S. during COVID, identifying critical targets for future
interventions and informing an evidence base for policy-making efforts to address future pandemics. This
COVID-related supplement would extend the aims funded through Project 4 of P01AG027296, “Behavioral
Control and Alzheimer's Disease: Policies, Medication Use, and Health Effects Across Care Settings.”

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10434251
- **Project number:** 3P01AG027296-13S1
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Vincent Mor
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $271,658
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2007-09-15 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10434251

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10434251, Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment and Outcomes in America: Changing Policies and Systems (3P01AG027296-13S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10434251. Licensed CC0.

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