This FOA solicits resource grant applications for projects that will bring useful, usable health information to health disparity populations and their health care providers. Access to useful, usable, understandable health information is an important factor during health decisions. Proposed projects should exploit the capabilities of computer and information technology and health sciences libraries to bring health-related information to consumers and their health care providers. Because this FOA focuses on providing health information to health disparity populations, institutions with demonstrated commitment to the needs of health disparity communities (including Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) and other institutions in rural and socially disadvantaged areas) are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to applications from institutions that show strong involvement of health science libraries.
In the “Charting the Course”, NLM’s Long Range Plan for 2006-2016, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/plan/lrpdocs.html, Goal 2 addresses information to promote health literacy, improve health outcomes, and reduce health disparities worldwide. That report notes: “NLM’s free, high quality consumer information services are heavily used by members of the public and by clinicians as aids to patient education, but they reach only some of their intended users. At a time when the amount of doctor-patient “face time” for discussing and explaining health conditions is short and there is intensified emphasis on self-informed patients and healthy lifestyles as keys to improving health and reducing costs, the Library must continue to strengthen its efforts to promote awareness of and ability to use electronic information sources among all segments of the population. To this end, NLM must strive to provide information in forms that can help increase understanding, reduce health disparities, and promote health literacy.”http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/plan/lrp06/report/LRP_Goal2.html
The NLM Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities program is focused on putting research knowledge into practice by providing information resources tailored to meet the needs of health disparity populations and their health care providers. Many factors influence use of information in health decisions, including physical access factors (such as availability of libraries or Internet connectivity in the context of a health visit or personal health decision), intellectual access factors (such as readability, understandability and presentation format of health information), and factors related to social determinants of health.
Topics of interest for this grant program include, but are not limited to:
- Developing or upgrading health information resources/services to meet the needs of health disparity populations.
- Providing health information resources/services to community organizations involved with health disparity populations.
- Developing information strategies to facilitate implementing patient centered care and precision medicine within a health disparity population.
- Developing information resources that will enable persons with health disparities to make informed consent decisions regarding research participation.
- Needs assessment studies that identify the types and forms of information needed by health disparity populations to assist them in making health-related decisions.
- Evaluation studies of existing information resources or services targeted at health disparity populations.
A project can develop and deploy a new information resource or service, or expand and improve an existing resource or service in order to meet the needs of a health disparity population. For a proposed project to be competitive there must be evidence that the intended audience is a health disparity population and their healthcare providers. A population is a health disparity population if there is a significant disparity in the overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality or survival rates in the population as compared to the health status of the general population.
Deadline: November 16, 2016 (letters of intent); December 16, 2016 (full proposals)
URL: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-LM-17-002.html
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities