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.