# Improving aging in place for older adults living in subsidized housing

> **NIH NIH K76** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $181,781

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The ability to live comfortably, safely, and independently in one's own home and community – often
called “aging in place” – is a key component of quality of life for older adults. Yet the ability to age in place is
severely compromised among the nearly 3 million older adults living in federally-subsidized housing, who are
at disproportionate risk for nursing home admission compared to this general population. This elevated risk is
driven largely by functional and cognitive impairments, and compounded by limited access to family supports
that can identify and address these impairments. Although some resources are available to help these
vulnerable older adults to age in place, these programs have not been found to decrease rates of nursing
home placement or to affect other key aspects of aging in place, including functioning and quality of life. Thus,
there is a crucial need to develop more effective strategies to identify at-risk individuals in subsidized housing
and to deliver targeted interventions to improve functioning and aging in place. The objective of this proposal is
to address this gap by completing the following 3 aims: (1) determine barriers and facilitators to implementing a
two-component intervention to improve aging in place for older adults living in subsidized housing, and to use
these findings to adapt and refine the intervention; (2) determine the feasibility and accuracy of a case-finding
program for identifying residents at high risk for nursing home admission; and (3) determine the feasibility and
preliminary effectiveness of the Function-Focused Care intervention for improving function in residents at high
risk for nursing home admission. Methods: Using qualitative interviews with key stakeholders from 4 subsidized
housing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, we will first identify barriers, facilitators, and needed adaptations
to (a) a case-finding program to identify high-risk older adults; and (b) the Function-Focused Care intervention
to improve functioning in high-risk individuals. We will then pilot test this adapted intervention in 2 housing sites
in San Francisco and determine its feasibility and preliminary effectiveness. Measures of feasibility for Aims 2
and 3 will include recruitment, retention, intervention fidelity, and acceptability. For Aim 2, we will assess the
accuracy of a case-finding program conducted by building staff for identifying older residents at high risk for
nursing home admission, compared to a reference standard of research-collected data. For Aim 3, we will
assess preliminary effectiveness by examining change from baseline to 6 months for the primary outcome of
functional status. We will assess function using both an objective measure (Short Physical Performance
Battery) as well as a self-reported measure of ability to perform activities of daily living. Relevance/public
health significance: Completing these aims will provide valuable preliminary data which will in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9901413
- **Project number:** 5K76AG057016-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Tyler Brown
- **Activity code:** K76 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $181,781
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-15 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9901413

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9901413, Improving aging in place for older adults living in subsidized housing (5K76AG057016-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9901413. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*