Enhancing shared decision-making to prompt and guide individualized care for people with Alzheimer's Disease and Diabetes

PROJECT ABSTRACT This Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01) will support my pursuit of becoming an independently funded investigator in Alzheimer’s and aging research. My proposal features a systematic approach to a comprehensive training plan including mentorship, didactic and experiential learning activities, and professional development opportunities, as well as a complementary research project establishing foundational evidence for my research agenda centered on improving care of people with Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and diabetes mellitus (ADRD-DM). My training goals are designed to attain essential advanced knowledge and skills pertaining to 1) ADRD collaborative care and research, 2) DM collaborative care and research, and 3) health systems and clinical trials. My research and training will take advantage of the immense resources and expertise at supporting centers across Indiana University, the Regenstrief Institute, and Eskenazi Health, including the National Institute on Aging-funded Institute of Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the IMPACT Collaboratory, and will be conducted under the mentorship of a multidisciplinary team of ADRD, DM, and implementation science experts, who have clinical and research experience in creating innovative technologies to improve care delivery in ADRD-DM populations. Building on my expertise in human factors engineering, the research project will examine how use of information technology can increase awareness of hypoglycemia and shared decisions about treatment options among people with ADRD-DM and their caregivers and primary care clinicians. I will use a participatory design process to develop assistive information technology that leverages continuous glucose monitoring devices. In this experiential learning opportunity, I will gain insights into patients’ and caregivers’ perceptions and experiences, clinicians’ information gaps and other barriers to individualizing ADRD-DM treatment, and the design of technology to facilitate shared decision-making, while expanding the knowledge base on these aspects of health care. Furthermore, I intend to increase representation of diverse socioeconomical and cultural backgrounds among ADRD research participants and scientists. This K01 award will uniquely position me to bring together human factors and ADRD-DM research to design and implement technology to assess and improve the health of people with ADRD.