Research to Spread and Scale the Impact of Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Programs and Interventions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will fund up to three grants to entities who have significant expertise in implementation research in the health and/or social sciences; and demonstrated experience conducting research with the Aging Network and/or Community Care Hubs. All applicants must ensure delivery partners implement at least one evidence-based multifactorial falls prevention program across delivery partners, capturing core outcome measures across participants and organizations. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) plays an important role in making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services, which often impacts insurance coverage for these services. Highly recommended (A and B grade) services, those with high or moderate net benefit, are typically covered by federal and private insurers without copay or cost-sharing. Grade C recommendations are made by the USPSTF when the net benefit is found to be small. The USPSTF found existing evidence indicates that the overall net benefit of routinely offering multifactorial interventions to prevent falls is small.This grant opportunity intends to fund implementation research that brings to scale and evaluates the impact of evidence-based multifactorial falls prevention programs on falls among older adults through a collaborative approach inclusive of the Aging Network and collaborative partners, experts in falls prevention research, and experts in implementation science and research. . Interventions and implementation strategies proposed for this funding opportunity should address at least one of the research gaps noted by the USPSTF, using one of the following approaches:implementing at one least evidence-based multifactorial falls prevention program compared to exercise alone (comparison group); orimplementing at one least evidence-based multifactorial falls prevention program plus exercise compared to no intervention (comparison group)implementing at least one evidence-based multifactorial falls prevention program compared to no intervention (comparison group)Successful applicants must demonstrate their capacity to conduct several activities including, but not limited to, the following:Finalize research questions and methods for conducting research to reduce falls and falls risk using an implementation science approach, with structured (quantitative) data and unstructured (qualitative) data collection;Ensure a secure, dynamic system to house the data collected and evidence developed community-based organizations, complying with the HHS public access plan and policy regarding scientific or research data collected as a result of this funding;Foster collaboration with the Aging Network and other partners involved in the delivery of the falls prevention programs and interventions and report implementation and participant data in order to understand and measure the extent to the program/intervention reduces falls and falls risk factors;Provide technical assistance to sub-awardees on the program/intervention delivery and structured data collection using a relational database or some other technically appropriate data warehouse;Conduct both predictive and statistical analysis on research findings, and disseminate findings through peer-reviewed research and other appropriate media; andDevelop a dissemination plan to initiate and participate in broader sustainability efforts to achieve further scaling of the program/intervention and public health impact for community-based multifactorial falls prevention programs.