# Advancing Workforce Analysis and Research for Dementia (AWARD) Network

> **NIH NIH R24** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2023 · $400,742

## Abstract

ABSTRACT / PROJECT SUMMARY
 More than 6 million people live with neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, receiving care and
support from both unpaid care partners and paid workers. The paid workforce is large and diverse, employing
millions of people, most of whom are in occupations that do not require a college degree. The largest occupation
by far is the “direct care” workforce, which consists of 2.4 million personal care aides, 1.1 million nursing
assistants, and 800,000 home health aides. These workers are affected by a range of policies and programs
that vary across states, payers, and healthcare organizations, including differing training requirements, state-
level regulations regarding what services direct care workers are allowed to provide, and reimbursement
strategies that may affect demand for and wages of direct care workers. We have little evidence to guide
evaluation and refinement of policies even as the importance of ensuring an adequately-sized and well-prepared
direct care workforce is growing. There also is an urgent need to identify effective approaches to support direct
care workers in their interface with an increasingly diverse population of people living with dementia and with
other healthcare professionals.
 To advance research on the direct care workforce that serves people living with dementia, we will establish
the AWARD (Advancing Workforce Analysis and Research for Dementia) Network. Workforce researchers come
from a range of academic disciplines (e.g. public health, economics, sociology, medicine, nursing) and are
spread throughout the nation with few centered at any one institution. They often are in separate departments
or research units from scholars with expertise in dementia care, limiting opportunities for interdisciplinary
research collaborations and mentoring of early-stage researchers in the theories and practicalities of conducting
studies of the healthcare workforce. The AWARD Network will offer programs and activities to create a strong
community of researchers engaged in research on the direct care workforce and its role in care for people living
with dementia.
 Activities of the AWARD Network will include: (1) hosting an annual meeting, (2) holding monthly virtual
trainings, webinars, and workshops, (3) organizing two Summer Training Institutes, (4) supporting competitive
research internships, (5) directly funding pilot research, and (6) developing resources and data to harmonize and
accelerate research.
 The AWARD Network will develop infrastructure and relationships to generate research that supports
evidence-based policy and practice to advance the capacity of the direct care workforce in serving PLWD. This
work will ultimately inform policy leaders and healthcare organizations striving to ensure appropriate care and
reduce health disparities for this population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10650397
- **Project number:** 5R24AG077014-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** JOANNE E. SPETZ
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $400,742
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-07-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10650397

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10650397, Advancing Workforce Analysis and Research for Dementia (AWARD) Network (5R24AG077014-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10650397. Licensed CC0.

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