# Optimizing Mealtime Care (OPTIMAL): Development and Pilot Testing of a Person-Centered Mealtime Care Intervention for Nursing Home Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD)

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2024 · $75,600

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract – Funded/Parent Project
The overall goal of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) is to support
the candidate, Dr. Wen Liu, in developing an independent clinical program of research to optimize mealtime
care quality, function, and nutrition in aging and ADRD population. Her long-term career goal is to become an
independent investigator and national leader conducting patient-centered, interdisciplinary clinical research to
optimize mealtime care and patient outcomes across a broad range of care settings. Dr. Liu’s three training
goals are: 1) Behavioral intervention science to develop knowledge and skills on the development, delivery,
evaluation, and refinement of behavioral interventions for dementia mealtime care in clinical care settings; 2)
Advanced methodologies in clinical trials to develop knowledge and skills in a) design and conduct of
clinical trials, and b) the use of qualitative and mixed methods to inform feasibility of the intervention and guide
refinement of the intervention; and 3) Advanced quantitative statistical methods to analyze large clustered
data coded from video-taped mealtime observations that are collected from behavioral clinical trials. Under the
mentorship of an accomplished team of investigators, Dr. Liu will achieve the training goals through completion
of systematically planned formal and informal training activities at the University of Iowa, a research-intensive
organization with significant and long-standing resources for early career investigators. The training plan will
provide her with knowledge and skills necessary to address two significant and intertwined dementia mealtime
care problems - mealtime difficulties and insufficient intake - both requiring immediate and joint resolution.
Emerging evidence supports the negative association of full assistance provision and the positive association
of person-centered care with resident mealtime difficulties and intake. Current interventions are lacking on the
use of person-centered care strategies, and fail to address care providers’ needs for knowledge and skills to
provide optimal mealtime care. To address this gap, the proposed research aims to complete the development
and pilot testing of a theory-based, person-centered mealtime care intervention, Optimizing Mealtime Care
(OPTIMAL), to effectively engage residents in eating and maintain their highest level of function possible. The
three specific aims are: 1) Develop, evaluate, and refine the OPTIMAL intervention protocol and training
materials; 2) Determine feasibility, fidelity, and usefulness of OPTIMAL; and 3) Describe resident
outcomes. This study will use a mixed methods approach integrating focus group interviews and a pilot two-
group parallel cluster RCT. Data obtained will be used to further refine the OPTIMAL intervention protocol and
study procedures, as well as to estimate effect sizes for a future larger trial. Dr. Liu will develop and subm...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10853670
- **Project number:** 3K23AG066856-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** Wen Liu
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $75,600
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10853670

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10853670, Optimizing Mealtime Care (OPTIMAL): Development and Pilot Testing of a Person-Centered Mealtime Care Intervention for Nursing Home Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) (3K23AG066856-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10853670. Licensed CC0.

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