Recruitment: Diverse community partnerships

Provide funding for clinical research studies to build diverse community partnerships needed to increase research participation.

2024 PAR-15-350: Emerging Directions for Addressing Health Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease (R03) PAR-18-749: Examining Diversity, Recruitment and Retention in Aging Research (R24) RFA-AG-18-002: Alzheimer’s-Related Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (AD-RCMAR) (P30 PAR-19-070: Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) PAR-19-071: Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOT-AG-18-047: Notice to Specify High-Priority Research Topic : Health Disparities and Alzheimer's Disease RFA-AG-20-004: Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (P30 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (Reissue of RFA-AG-19-001) RFA-AG-20-023: Exploratory Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (P20 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) RFA-AG-20-033 NIA Behavioral and Social Research LEaders in Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Related Dementias (NIA BSR LEADR) (DP1 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOT-AG-21-033: Health Disparities and Alzheimer’s Disease RFA-AG-23-025: Alzheimer's-related Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (AD/ADRD RCMAR) (P30 Clinical Trial Optional) (Reissue of RFA-AG-18-002) 12.A Achieved DBSR DN 2015 AD Summit Recommendations: 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D 2017 Dementia Care Summit: 2.4 and 5.4 2020 Dementia Care Summit: 4.1, 4.10, 4.11 Blog: Team up to accelerate recruitment for aging research Blog: ADORE website, videos are new tools for Alzheimer's research recruitment Blog: Seeking your ideas for ways to enhance recruitment and retention of Alzheimer's disease study participants Blog: Collaboration, culture, coordination: Keys to supporting brain donation News: OSP Scholar Spotlight: Amanda Boyd, Ph.D. Workshop: Expert Meeting on Traditional and Non-Traditional Sampling Methods for Population Aging Research on Small Populations, May 6, 2020 (FB) Recruitment and Citizen Engagement Alzheimer’s-Related Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (AD-RCMAR) Identifying Scalable and Culturally Relevant Strategies for Recruitment of African Americans with Cognitive Impairment into Dementia Research Alzheimer’s & Dementia Outreach, Recruitment & Engagement Resources (ADORE)

Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Examining Diversity, Recruitment and Retention in Aging funded research projects Engaging Communities of Hispanics/Latinos for Aging Research Collaborative Approach for Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Research & Education (CARE) The PATIENTS Program Foundations of Representative Engagement, Valid & Effective Recruitment (FOREVER) in AD Research Projects funded under PAR-18-749 2016

  • Provide funding for at least 20 clinical research studies aimed at building partnerships with diverse communities.

Summary of Key Accomplishments

NIA issued a funding opportunity, “Examining Diversity Recruitment and Retention in Aging Research,” specifically calling for collaborative teams to focus on advancing concepts and approaches to enhance diverse research participant recruitment and retention, strengthen outreach and community engagement practices, and devise improved communication strategies. Fifteen funded projects from this initiative are developing and testing community collaborations focused on increasing clinical research participation, including those from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, sexual and gender minorities, and members of under-resourced and/or rural communities. As of 2024, these projects have published more than 70 articles, such as those outlining collaborative efforts to engage older adults, including those from diverse backgrounds, in biomedical research; creating culturally- and linguistically tailored dementia education programs; and developing recruitment registries and other tools to increase clinical research participation.

Examples of additional studies working to build partnerships with diverse communities include:

  • The HABS-HD study (Health and Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities), a community-based project to study each of the ATN biomarkers across Mexican Americans, African Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites.
  • In 2020, NIA funded four exploratory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers to broaden ADRC research initiatives with underrepresented populations such as African Americans, Native Americans, and those in rural communities. These exploratory centers now have the opportunity to apply to become full ADRCs.
  • A project that aims to recruit multiethnic populations to preclinical Alzheimer’s disease trials, with a focus on biomarker disclosure and study partner requirement.
  • Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, a program which aims to diversify the research workforce in priority areas of social, behavioral, psychological, and economic research on aging by mentoring promising scientists, including those from diverse backgrounds.

The next iteration of this important work of engaging communities in research, in part, to enhance recruitment and retention of participants most impacted by AD/ADRD is captured in a new milestone on community-engaged research created after the 2023 National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons Living with Dementia and Their Care Partners/Caregivers.

The key accomplishments summary is current as of July 2024.