2026 Pilot Awards
The AWARD Network published a Request for Applications in January 2026 for its third cycle of Pilot Awards. Pilot Awards are intended to support early-stage research on the workforce that serves people living with dementia. This research can be qualitative, quantitative, or use mixed methods, can be national, regional, or local in scope, and can focus on any topic related to the workforce and care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Two types of Pilot Awards are available in this cycle:
- Mini-Awards, which provide up to $3,000 to support data acquisition (i.e., purchasing a dataset, traveling to conduct interviews for qualitative research), traveling to collaborate with a research mentor, attending a workshop, purchasing analytical software, or similar activities.
- Full Awards, which provide up to $15,000 total costs; Applicants for the Full Awards are encouraged to apply for less than $15,000 if appropriate for their Aims.
All proposals will be reviewed by a committee, following criteria described in the Request for Applications. After review, preference will be given to projects that focus on the direct care workforce, are designed to help the applicant collect the data and research skills needed to submit a strong NIH K-award or R-award application, and/or that will use the AWARD Network Direct Care Workforce Data Compendium. For Mini-Awards, priority will be given to activities that advance the applicant’s research and provide support that is otherwise unavailable to the applicant. We are particularly interested in supporting promising early-stage scholars.
A total of at least $60,000 will be available, with the final number and allocation of awards based on the number of meritorious proposals received.
An informational webinar was held on Wednesday, February 4, 12-1 pm Pacific time.
Watch the webinar here
Deadline for applications: March 6, 2026, 11:59 pm Pacific time
For more information, read the full Request for Applications.
2026 Pilot Award Recipients
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Pilot Awards. Recipients were selected from an impressive group of competitive applications.
2026 AWARD Network Pilot Award Recipients:
Heather Brom, PhD, RN, University of Pennsylvania
Sherif Olanrewaju, PhD, PGDE, MPS, University of Pennsylvania
“State Direct Care Workforce Policies and Nursing Home Quality Outcomes: Implications for Dementia Care”
Direct care workers provide the majority of hands-on care in nursing homes, yet despite their critical role, little research has examined how state-level policies governing their work affect care quality. This study investigates whether state policies, such as wage pass-through and staffing regulations, are associated with nursing home quality outcomes (e.g., overall star ratings, pressure ulcers, antipsychotic use, and hospitalizations) and whether these associations differ in facilities serving higher proportions of residents with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Ayse Malatyali, PhD, MBA, RN, University of Central Florida
“Recognizing the Warning Signs: A Needs Assessment of Rapid Pattern Recognition Skills among Dementia Direct Care Workers”
This project addresses a critical gap in dementia care workforce research: the extent to which frontline dementia care workers can recognize subtle pre-fall behavioral and physical warning signs exhibited by people living with dementia in long-term care institutions. Our objective is to characterize baseline rapid pattern recognition knowledge and training gaps among direct care workers, and to explore the contextual barriers to timely pre-fall cue recognition.
Tingzhong Xue, PhD, RN, University of Massachusetts Amherst
"Impacts of Nursing Home Closures on the Direct Care Workforce for Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias"
Nursing home (NH) closures have complex impacts on the direct care workforce that provides care services to people with dementia. We first aim to conduct a scoping review on the impacts of NH closures on employment outcomes of the direct care workers that serve people living with dementia and the capacity of the direct care workforce to provide dementia care. Then we will explore and compare the impacts of NH closures on the direct care workforce that serves people with dementia in selected counties in the New England area with and without NH closures in the last 15 years.
Dajung Jun, PhD, MA, University of Texas San Antonio
Wage Floors and Dementia Care: The Effect of State Minimum Wage Laws on the Direct Care Workforce, Medicare Beneficiaries with ADRD, and Their Family Caregivers
This study examines whether state minimum wage laws can stabilize the direct care workforce and improve outcomes for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their family caregivers. Using Medicare claims and Health and Retirement Study data with causal difference-in-differences methods, it assesses how wage increases affect patient health outcomes and caregiver burden, employment, and well-being, testing whether higher wages enhance care continuity or shift care responsibilities onto families.
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2025 Pilot Award Recipients
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Pilot Awards. Recipients were selected from an impressive group of competitive applications.
2025 AWARD Network Pilot Award Recipients:
Yiqing Qian, PhD, MPH, 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”
The growing aging U.S. population has heightened the urgency of strengthening teamwork between families and direct care workers (DCWs) in dementia care. Grounded in the theories of Caregiver Stress Process, Convoys of Care, and Relational Coordination, our objective is to examine how family caregivers’ coordination with DCWs and their perspectives on paid care influence their psychosocial well-being (e.g., loneliness, depression) and the receipt of paid care among community-dwelling older adults living with dementia.
Reed WR Bratches, PhD, MPH, MALS, University of Alabama at Birmingham
“Care-Resistant Behaviors and Training Preparedness in the Dementia Care Workforce: Analysis of the National Dementia Workforce Study”
This project will use the National Dementia Workforce Study to identify factors associated with managing care-resistant behaviors among the dementia care workforce, and will identify where training and preparedness may be improved with targeted intervention. This study will support the development of interventions for high-need members of the dementia workforce.
2025 AWARD Network Pilot Mini Award Recipient:
Yeonjung Jane Lee, PhD, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
“Challenges, motivation, and resilience in the dementia workforce: A mixed methods study of immigrant direct care workers”
Direct dementia care workers who are immigrants are valuable as they can meet the demands of a diversifying aging population. However, despite the strengths and benefits of immigrant direct care workers caring for people living with dementia, they are often situated in challenging work situations. The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the challenges, strengths, and recommendations for the dementia care workforce, focusing on the immigrant direct care worker experience through a mixed-methods approach.
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2024 Pilot Award Recipients
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Pilot Awards. Recipients were selected from an impressive group of competitive applications.
2024 AWARD Network Pilot Award Recipients:
Emerald Jenkins, PhD, DNP, RN, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
“Use of the Health Equity Framework to Characterize Multi-Level Factors Correlated with Pain and the Receipt of the Direct Care Workforce in Older Adults with Dementia”
Despite the importance of the direct care workforce in pain management, little is known about people of color, and marginalized, vulnerable persons living with dementia (PLWD) with pain and their care arrangements and costs of care. For the population of PLWD and pain, using National Health and Aging Trends Study data our objectives are to: (1) characterize multi-level factors correlated with pain, and (2) identify predictors of direct care workforce use for caregivers; using several databases we will also conduct a systematic review to (3) determine efficacious pain interventions.
Katherine Miller, PhD, and Karen Shen, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
“State Policy Responses to COVID-19 and Workforce Dynamics: Examining Industry Exit Trends for Direct Care Workers and Firms”
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated direct care staffing challenges in many industries and threatened the financial viability of many long-term care providers. Our objective is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both long-term care worker turnover and closures of home health and home care agencies, and whether state policies, such as reimbursement rate increases and targeted wage supports, mediated these impacts.