Virtue

A NOVEL, PERSONALIZED INNOVATION TO REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES FOR RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS: CAREVIRTUE RESOURCE CONNECTION. - PROJECT SUMMARY CARE PARTNERS OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIA (ADRD) IN RURAL AREAS EXPERIENCE DISPROPORTIONATE CAREGIVING BURDEN AND EXPERIENCE LOWER SOCIAL SUPPORT THAN THEIR URBAN COUNTERPARTS, WHICH ARE IMPACTED BY SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDOH) RELATED TO THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ISOLATION ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING CARE FOR A PERSON LIVING WITH ADRD. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY LACKS FOCUS ON THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. IN RESPONSE TO THIS CRITICAL GAP, OUR TEAM TOOK FIRST STEPS WITH A SUCCESSFUL PHASE I PROJECT (R43AG080849); THE PROJECT INCLUDED AN ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCE NEEDS FOR RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS, CO-DESIGNING A PROTOTYPE INTERVENTION WITH RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS, AND DEMONSTRATING FEASIBILITY OF THE PROTOTYPE INTERVENTION (THE CAREVIRTUE RESOURCE CONNECTION). THE RESOURCE CONNECTION PROTOTYPE ASSESSES INDIVIDUAL RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNER NEEDS, DELIVERS PERSONALIZED RESOURCES BASED ON THEIR NEEDS AND GEOGRAPHY, AND STORES PERSONALIZED RESOURCES IN A DIGITAL LIBRARY FOR EASY ACCESSIBILITY. PHASE I SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED PROTOTYPE FEASIBILITY, PROVIDING A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THE PROPOSED PHASE II PROJECT. CONTINUING TO FOLLOW THE NIH STAGE MODEL, WE WILL (I) OPERATIONALIZE THE PROTOTYPE INTERVENTION FOR USE BY HCBS PROVIDERS FOR EASIER IMPLEMENTATION AND (II) DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE OPERATIONALIZED INTERVENTION. OUR PHASE I RESULTS PROVIDE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR THIS PROPOSED PHASE II PROJECT, AND FOLLOWING THE NIH STAGE MODEL WE WILL: (I) CO-DESIGN WITH RURAL COMMUNITY PARTNERS AN AI-ASSISTED ADRD RESOURCE MATCHING AND REFERRAL SYSTEM AND (II) DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF THESE NEW FEATURES. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO COMMERCIALIZE AN EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTION THAT CAN OVERCOME BARRIERS ENCOUNTERED BY RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. OUR TEAM (INDIANA UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON, AND CAREVIRTUE) HAS DEEP EXPERIENCE IN ADRD CAREGIVING, USER-CENTERED DESIGN, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, AI ETHICS AND AI-ENABLED FRAMEWORK DESIGN, AND PRODUCT COMMERCIALIZATION. OUR PARTNERSHIPS WITH HCBS PROVIDERS ACROSS MULTIPLE RURAL COMMUNITIES (NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, SOUTH DAKOTA, UTAH, FLORIDA PANHANDLE) ARE POISED TO ENGAGE WITH RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS FOR THIS PROJECT. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PHASE II PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A USER-CENTERED INTERVENTION DESIGNED FOR BOTH RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS AND HCBS PROVIDERS TO OVERCOME COMMON BARRIERS, REDUCE CAREGIVING BURDEN, AND REDUCE SOCIAL ISOLATION FOR RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS.

A NOVEL, AI-ENABLED DEMENTIA CARE AGENT TO REDUCE DISPARITIES FOR RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. - PROJECT SUMMARY CARE PARTNERS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIA (ADRD) IN RURAL AREAS EXPERIENCE HIGHER CAREGIVING BURDEN AND LOWER SOCIAL SUPPORT COMPARED TO URBAN CAREGIVERS. ALTHOUGH CAREGIVER EDUCATION AND SUPPORT DELIVERED BY HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE (HCBS) PROVIDERS HAS DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO REDUCE CAREGIVER BURDEN, THOSE SERVING RURAL AREAS OFTEN FACE WORKFORCE SHORTAGES AND CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS, LIMITING THEIR SERVICE AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY AMONG RURAL CARE PARTNERS. FURTHER, NO SCALABLE INTERVENTION CURRENTLY EXISTS TO ENABLE HCBS PROVIDERS TO DELIVER REAL-TIME EDUCATION AND SUPPORT TAILORED TO THE EVOLVING NEEDS OF RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. TO ADDRESS THESE CRITICAL GAPS, WE PLAN TO DEVELOP THE AI-ENABLED DEMENTIA CARE AGENT THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE AS A 24X7 SERVICE TO SUPPORT RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. THE DEMENTIA CARE AGENT, WHICH WILL BE PROVIDED TO CARE PARTNERS THROUGH HCBS PROVIDERS, WILL UTILIZE VETTED ADRD CAREGIVING EDUCATION AND SUPPORT CONTENT FROM NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING, AGEUCATE, AND OTHER AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES. THIS SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE BASE WILL BE ADDED TO A LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL (LLM), A MACHINE LEARNING SYSTEM THAT CAN GENERATE AND UNDERSTAND COMPLEX HUMAN LANGUAGE INTERACTIONS. WE WILL INTEGRATE THE DEMENTIA CARE AGENT WITH CAREVIRTUE’S PROVEN CAREGIVER SUPPORT PLATFORM TO PROVIDE TAILORED ADRD EDUCATION AND SUPPORT WHILE ENHANCING THE ABILITY OF RURAL HCBS PROVIDERS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE ADRD EDUCATION AND SUPPORT. OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A PERSONALIZED, CONTEXT-AWARE DEMENTIA CARE AGENT THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS FOR REAL-TIME SUPPORT NEEDS AND ALLEVIATE THE ADRD EDUCATION AND SUPPORT CAPACITY LIMITATIONS FACED BY MANY HCBS PROVIDERS. OUR MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM INCLUDES EXPERTS IN MACHINE LEARNING, AI AGENTS, LLM TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE COMMERCIALIZATION, ADRD CAREGIVING SUPPORT, AND HCBS PROVIDERS SERVING RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS. OUR LONG- TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO COMMERCIALIZE THE DEMENTIA CARE AGENT INTERVENTION TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME SUPPORT TO RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS, INCREASE THE AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF ADRD EDUCATION, IMPROVE CAPACITY FOR HCBS PROVIDERS, AND REDUCE THE DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN THAT RURAL ADRD CARE PARTNERS FACE BY OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR NEEDED ADRD EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND SUPPORT.

SBIR PHASE I: TRANSFORMATION360