Conference and summer travel season is here, and the AWARD Network hopes to see you at AcademyHealth, ASHEcon, iHEA, Transforming Care Conference, and other meetings! 

Help us get the word out about the AWARD Network! If you have ever participated in our AWARD Network events (webinars, summer institute, grant writing workshops, pilot funding) or used any of our resources (data compendium, newsletter), we consider you a member of the Network. We created an electronic badge for you to share in your slide deck, integrate in your poster, or print out separately to put alongside your poster. We’ll look for you at the AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in Minneapolis Jun 7-10. The badge is one way that we can use find you in the crowd!

Please send us links to your new publications, announcements about your accomplishments, and information about any presentations you’ve made, so we can share them with the Network! You can email AWARDNetwork@ucsf.edu.

Read on for more resources to advance your research on the workforce that serves people living with dementia! Be sure to check out all the latest news at the AWARD Network website.

The AWARD Network is organizing grantwriting groups for grants to be submitted in June! These will be groups of 3-5 people to provide an intensive, supportive period for preparing proposals to NIH or similar proposals to other funders.

The groups will run for about 3-4 months before the submission deadline.

Feedback will be within a group of peers who will be matched based on their career stage and type of proposal. Some feedback will be provided by leaders of the AWARD Network but most of the feedback will be within the group, which will help develop skills in self-critique alongside generating useful ideas for improvement.

Participants should expect to commit 6 hours of time per week. Two hours will be for synchronous group feedback sessions. Four hours will be for writing, which can be done in two 2-hour synchronous sessions or on your own time.

If you are interested in joining a group, please sign up using our application form

Sherif Olanrewaju, post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, received the AcademyHealth Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues (IRGNI) New Investigator Award. This annual award honors the scholar with the best abstract submitted for the meeting, which will be presented during the IRGNI pre-conference session during the 2025 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.

Lauren Hunt, Associate Professor at UCSF, received the American Foundation for Aging Research’s 2025 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research. The award honors Lauren for her important contributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services science and that is likely to be highly influential in shaping practice and research for decades to come. There will be an award ceremony and lecture at the 2025 Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting in November in Boston, Massachusetts.

Susan Chapman, a co-leader of the AWARD Network, is the recipient of the 2025 Helen Nahm Research Lecture Award at UCSF, which is an annual award that represents a School of Nursing faculty member or alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution to nursing research and science. She will present a special lecture on June 4, which will be recorded and posted on the Helen Nahm Award website soon thereafter.

AWARD Network member Chanee Fabius received a Nexus award from the Johns Hopkins University to plan a convening titled, "Strategies to Improve Shared Care between Family Caregivers and the Paid Direct Care Workforce." The event will take place in April 2026 in Washington DC. The focus of the convening is on shared care between family caregivers and direct care workers. AWARD Network co-leader Susan Chapman is a collaborator on the project. 

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Pilot Awards. Recipients were selected from an impressive group of competitive applications.

Yiqing Qian, Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University

“Towards Better Teamwork Between Paid and Family Care in the Community: Paid Care Experiences and Psychosocial Well-being of Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia”

Reed WR Bratches, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“Care-Resistant Behaviors and Training Preparedness in the Dementia Care Workforce: Analysis of the National Dementia Workforce Study”

Yeonjung Jane Lee, Associate Professor, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

“Challenges, Motivation, and Resilience in the Dementia Workforce: A Mixed Methods Study of Immigrant Direct Care Workers”

You can learn more about the awardees on the Pilot Award webpage. Thanks to the AWARD Network Pilot Award Selection Committee for their help in selecting these pilot award winners! 

AWARD Network co-leader Bianca Frogner is the Program Chair this year!

Presentations to check out include:

Saturday, June 7, 4:00-5:15pm

• End-of-Life Outcomes Among Assisted Living Hospice Recipients: The Role of Hospice Staff Visits and State Regulations (Shubing Cai, Brian McGarry, and others)

Sunday, June 8, 3:45-5pm

• Health Workforce Interest Group: Caring for an Aging America: Addressing Workforce Challenges through Research and Data (panelists include Lei Chen, Sherif Olanrewaju, Bianca Frogner, and Joanne Spetz)

Monday, June 9, 9:30-10:45am

• Reductions in Therapy Provision in Skilled Nursing Facilities after Medicare Payment Reform and during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Rachel Prusynski, Cait Brown, Bianca Frogner, Tracy Mroz, and others)
• Impact of Transitional Experiences on the Preparedness of Internationally Educated Nurses to Provide Care for Older Adults in U.S. Long-Term Care Settings: A Qualitative Study (Sherif Olanrewaju and others)

Sunday, June 8, 8:00-9:15am - Aging and End-of-Life Poster Session

• A-28: Geographic Proximity, “Shelter-in-Place” Policies, and Changes in Caregiving for Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Lei Chen & Joanne Spetz)
• A-42: Hospice Visits and Perceived End-of-Life Care Quality for Assisted Living Residents (Shubing Cai and others)
• A-60: Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on Acute Care Use Among Older Adults (Karen Shen and others)
• A-70: Shifting Care Patterns: How Medicaid Policies Shape Family and Paid Care Use (Katherine Miller and others)
• A-71: Does Public Support of Policies to Sustain the Care Economy Differ By Political Affiliation or Caregiving Responsibilities? (Katherine Miller, Karen Shen, and others)
• A-72: Nursing Homes to Home Care: Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Direct Care Worker Transitions (Katherine Miller, Karen Shen, and others)
• A-73: Employer Support for Working Family Caregivers of Older Adults: Evidence from US Workplaces (Katherine Miller and others)

Monday, June 9, 8:00-9:15am - Health Workforce Poster Session

• C-105: Impacts of Skilled Nursing Facility Change of Ownership on Staffing: A Staggered Difference-in-Difference Analysis (Bianca Frogner and others)
• C-124: Wage Growth among the Healthcare Workforce during the Pandemic and Recovery (Janette Dill and others)
• C-173: Evaluation of the CalGrows Innovation Fund Direct Care Training and Stipends Program (Joanne Spetz and others)
• C-175: Internationally Educated Nurses’ Experiences of Working in United States Long-Term Care Settings (Sherif Olanrewaju and others)

Monday, June 9, 5:00-6:15pm - Late-breaking Poster Session

• D-402: Ensuring a Diverse Nursing Workforce (Bianca Frogner and others)

Joanne Spetz, AWARD Network co-leader, has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee A Data Infrastructure for Measuring the Care Economy. This study will assess current data available and will provide conclusions and recommendations on the potential for improving, expanding, and integrating the care data infrastructure to more fully understand the care economy in the United States.

The AWARD Network is developing a research-ready harmonized dataset of policies and programs that affect the demand, supply, working conditions, and skills of direct care workers. The data compendium is accompanied by detailed documentation that includes references to primary data sources. Research-ready datafiles are available to download to support your research on these policies or to use as control variables in your research.

We have released the harmonized datasets for four policies and programs:

• State Medicaid waiver programs
• Wage pass-through laws
• Training regulations for direct care workers
• Staffing regulations for nursing homes and assisted living facilities

You can download materials from the data compendium webpage, where we will continue to share updates on the data compendium. If you have ideas for additions to the data compendium, please write to us at AWARDNetwork@ucsf.edu. 

The National Dementia Workforce Study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, is conducting the first large, annual surveys of the dementia care workforce in the United States. Survey data and other linked data sources will create an unprecedented resource for researchers to answer critical questions about the workforce and its impact on care and outcomes for persons living with dementia.

Data will be available this summer, and access will be free! There will be public-use data files as well as restricted-use files available through NIA’s LINKAGE platform.

• You can learn more about this important data resource and sign up for the mailing list at: https://www.ndws.org/

The mission of the Age-Friendly Health Systems (AHFS) Research Network is to advance the evidence base for Age-Friendly Health Systems and the 4Ms.

All individuals interested in AFHS evidence generation are welcome to join the network. Activities include webinars and resources to support research on age-friendly care.

Laura Wagner, AWARD Network co-leader, will moderate their next webinar: “AFHS RN Webinar: Research-Driven Practices for Empowering the AFHS Workforce.” You can learn more and register here.

• Learn more and join the Network on their website!

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have funding opportunities relevant to the dementia care workforce. Please check to make sure opportunities have not been withdrawn or expired before applying.

• Advancing Healthcare for Older Adults from Populations that Experience Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) (PAR-24-273) – expires January 28, 2028
• The Role of Work in Health Disparities in the U.S. (R01 Clinical Trials Optional) (PAR-25-292) – expires January 8, 2028
• Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01: PAR-25-332, R21: PAR-25-331) – expires November, 2027
• Notice of Special Interest: AHRQ Announces Interest in Health Services Research to Improve Care Delivery, Access, Quality, Equity, and Health Outcomes for Older Adults (NOT-HS-24-013) – expires May 15, 2027
• Special Emphasis Notice: AHRQ Announces Interest in Health Services Research to Improve Healthcare for Persons Living with Disabilities (NOT-HS-24-004)

To learn more about federal funding opportunities, visit this website.

Non-Federal Funding Opportunities:

• Retirement Research Foundation (RRF) Research Grants fund research that seeks to identify interventions, policies and practices to improve the well-being of older adults and/or their caregivers. Three application cycles per year.
• Alzheimer’s Association Grants – various dates and topics

Send us your new articles so we can include them in future newsletters! Email us at AWARDNetwork@ucsf.edu.

Blass B, Ford CB, Soneji S, Zepel L, Rosa TD, Kaufman BG et al. Incidence and Prevalence of Dementia among US Medicare Beneficiaries, 2015-21: Population Based Study. BMJ, 2025; 389:e083034. https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj-2024-083034

Bowblis, JR, Li, S, Kuo, YF, Heston-Mullins, J, Goodwin, JS, Xu, H. Lifting Federal Visitation Restriction and COVID-19 Infections in Nursing Homes. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2025; 26(7):105682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2025.105682

Chen, AC, Spertus, D, Fu, CX, Sterling, MR, Grabowski, DC. Differences in Initiation and Receipt of Home Health Care: Traditional Medicare Versus Medicare Advantage. Med Care, 2025; online April 29, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000002150

Chen, L, Kietzman, K. How Does Age Matter? Investigating Financial Strain, Health, and Well-Being Among Adults Who Need Long-Term Services and Supports. Gerontologist, 2025; 65(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf051

Gusoff, GM, Cuevas, MA, Sarkisian, C, Sterling, MR, Avgar, AC, Ryan, GW. Perceived Contributors to Job Quality and Retention at Home Care Cooperatives. JAMA Netw Open. 2025; 8(4):e254457. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4457

Harrison, JD, Rogers, SE, Rosner, B, Martin, E, Lin, SC, Yeh, J, Adler-Milstein, J. Outcomes Evidence Must Keep Up with the Implementation of the 4Ms Framework to Ensure Age-Friendly Health System Transformation. Inquiry, 2025 Jan-Dec; 62:469580251334511. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580251334511

Kim, J, Stepick, L. Moving Within and Out of Direct Care: An Analysis of Annual Mobility of Direct Care Workers. New York, NY: PHI, 2025.

https://www.phinational.org/resource/moving-within-and-out-of-direct-care-an-analysis-of-annual-mobility-of-direct-care-workers/

Makam, AN, O’Riordan, DL, Heitner, R, Bowman, B, Spetz, J, Pantilat, S. Palliative Care Services in Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals: A National Survey Study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2025; online 24 March 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.03.009

Prusynski RA, Amaravadi H, Frogner BK, Mroz TM. Impacts of Skilled Nursing Facility Change of Ownership on Staffing: A Staggered Difference-in-Difference Analysis. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 2025; 26(5):105530. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1525861025000477

Prusynski, RA, Brown, C, Johnson, JK, Edelstein, J. Skilled Nursing and Home Health Policy: A Primer for the Hospital Clinician. Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 2025; 106(2):311-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2024.08.017

Riester, MR, Ryskina, KL, White, EM, Hayes, KN, Harris, DA, Zullo, AR. Approaches to Identify Nursing Home Specialists Using Medicare Claims Data. Med Care, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000002161

Travers, JL, Reckrey, JM, Frogner, BK, Grabowski, DC, Spetz, J. The Dementia Care Workforce: Essential to Care but Large Research Gaps Exist. Alzheimers Dement, 2025; 21(5):e70269. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70269

Xu, H, Bowblis, JR, Li, S, Heston-Mullins, J, Kuo, YF, Goodwin, JS. Changes in Federal and State Policies on Visitation Restrictions in Nursing Homes During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Appl Gerontol, 2025 Mar 28:7334648251324269. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648251324269