# Enhanced Dementia Instruction and Tool in Home Hospice Care (EDITH-HC)

> **NIH NIH R00** · RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $246,460

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The long-term objective of this K99/R00 application is to develop Dr. Elizabeth Luth’s capacity to conduct
studies aimed at reducing caregiver burden and improving care for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and
related dementias (ADRD) nearing the end of life. In the K99 phase, the proposed project supports Dr. Luth in
four training objectives that will allow her to develop and transition to an independent investigator who creates
culturally inclusive, practical, and scalable solutions to improve end-of-life care for patients with dementia. First,
she will extend her knowledge in core substantive areas including hospice care, dementia caregiving, and
recruitment and retention. Second, she will learn to develop, implement, and disseminate behavioral
interventions with an emphasis on clinical care settings, workforce training, and collaboration with community
partners. Third, she will learn how to design and conduct clinical trials for ADRD patients and caregivers.
Finally, for the fourth training objective, Dr. Luth will pursue professional development opportunities, specifically
in the areas of grant writing and collaboration. The four research aims of this application will proceed as
follows. Aim 1 will identify common challenges, strategies, and gaps in care for an understudied population;
that is, community-dwelling patients with dementia near the end of life. This aim is achieved through
interviewing and surveying African American and white family caregivers and hospice clinicians. Aim 2 uses
key stakeholder (family caregivers, clinicians, experts) feedback to adapt dementia-focused training materials
and to develop a problem solving tool for home hospice clinicians to improve care outcomes. Aim 3 examines
the feasibility and acceptability of the training and tool and revises them based on an iterative feedback
process with family caregivers and clinicians. Aim 4 determines the preliminary efficacy of the training program
and tool to improve clinicians’ knowledge of dementia-related challenges in home hospice care, reduce family
caregiver burden, and reduce hospice disenrollment through a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). The
proposed research works towards reducing disparities and achieving health equity by involving African
American individuals in all stages of information gathering and intervention development and testing. The
proposed project is consistent with the NIA’s mission to conduct behavioral research on aging and foster the
development of research scientists in aging. It is also aligned with the NIA’s strategic goals of developing
interventions to address Alzheimer’s Disease and improve the health of older adults in diverse populations. Dr.
Luth proposes to pursue these development goals and begin the proposed research with the support of the
Department of Medicine and Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, which
provide an ideal environment of research support an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10794191
- **Project number:** 7R00AG065624-04
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Luth
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $246,460
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10794191

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10794191, Enhanced Dementia Instruction and Tool in Home Hospice Care (EDITH-HC) (7R00AG065624-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10794191. Licensed CC0.

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