Research Spotlight: University of Southern California U.S. Cost of Dementia Project
The United States Cost of Dementia Project provides comprehensive, national, annual estimates of the total cost of dementia and builds the capacity of researchers and policymakers to address the economic consequences of dementia. They recently released projections estimating that U.S. dementia costs will exceed $780 billion this year. The model accounts for the cost of care, lost earnings from persons living with dementia and their care partners who cut back on work hours, and diminished quality of life, among other factors. The model estimates that medical and long-term care for patients with dementia will cost the United States $232 billion this year, including $52 billion paid out of pocket by patients and their families. More than two-thirds of the total cost of care is paid for by Medicare ($106 billion) and Medicaid ($58 billion).
The United States Cost of Dementia Project is funded by a multi-year cooperative agreement with the NIA. It leverages data from several large, nationally representative surveys, including from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and administrative health data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The model allows researchers and policymakers to explore how changes in prevention, diagnostics, and treatments affect costs for patients, payers and society. Read the report and learn more about the U.S. Cost of Dementia Project and their findings.
Pilot Funding Opportunities from NIA Supported Centers and Networks
- State Alzheimer’s Research Support Center (StARS Center) requests dementia care innovation grant proposals. The StARS Center will support projects on topics that will meaningfully advance the provision, understanding, documentation, and evaluation of dementia care services for all persons affected who reside in a specific state or across multiple states. Learn more and submit a letter of intent by May 23, 2025.
- The Scientific Research Network on Decision Neuroscience and Aging (SRNDNA) is seeking pilot proposals that focused directly on the neural mechanisms of decision making in adult development and aging or on life course decisions that improve health and well-being in old age. Learn more and submit your application by June 1, 2025.
BSR Research Resource Highlight: NIH Stage Model for Behavioral Intervention Development
The NIH Stage Model is a model of behavioral intervention development with the goal to produce highly potent and maximally implementable behavioral interventions. The Stage Model is composed of six stages: basic science (Stage 0), intervention generation, refinement, modification, and adaptation and pilot testing (Stage I); traditional efficacy testing (Stage II); efficacy testing with real-world providers (Stage III); effectiveness research (Stage IV) and; dissemination and implementation research (Stage V).
A few key considerations in using the NIH Stage Model:
- The Stage Model is not prescriptive. It is a common language for discussing and reviewing behavior intervention development research. Therefore, the Stage Model does not require that intervention research be done in a pre-specified order. Researchers need to adequately justify the logic and order of their proposed sequence.
- Researchers are encouraged to examine the mechanisms of behavior change in every stage of intervention development.
- Researchers should consider the intervention’s ease of implementation as early as possible in the intervention development process.
Visit the NIH Stage Model website to learn how to incorporate the Stage Model into your behavioral intervention research and watch the informational training videos. Connect with NIA supported centers and networks that support intervention research using the NIH Stage Model including the Edward R. Roybal Centers for Translational Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences of Aging (Roybal Centers for Intervention Research), Science of Behavioral Change (SOBC), and the Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN).
Conferences, Workshops, & Webinars
- May 5, 2025: Population Aging Research Center: Limits of Chronological Aging (PARC Aging Chats). University of Pennsylvania. Hybrid.
- May 5, 2025: Life Course Center Demography & Aging Seminar Series: MPC/LCC Member Flash Presentations. University of Minnesota. Virtual.
- May 7, 2025: AWARD Network: AWARD Fellows’ Findings. University of California, San Francisco. Virtual.
- May 8, 2025: Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology (PennAITech) Collaboratory: Predicting Clinical Outcomes in Advanced Cancer Family Caregivers and Their Care Recipients. University of Pennsylvania. Virtual.
- May 9, 2025: Roybal Center for Behavioral Dyadic Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (CONFIDE-ADRD): CONFIDE-ADRD Dementia Salon – Dyadic Research Experience Panel. Massachusetts General Hospital. Virtual.
- May 9, 2025: Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging (INRPHA): INRPHA Webinar – Associations between Behavior-Opportunity Gaps and Dementia Risk: Leveraging Data from a Large Longitudinal Study of Aging. University of Minnesota. Virtual.
- May 15, 2025: NIA IMPACT Collaboratory: IMPACT Grand Rounds – Bridging Research and Practice: An Update from Real World Data Scholars. Virtual.
- May 22, 2025: Establishing Mechanisms of Benefit to Reinforce the Alzheimer’s Care Experience AD/ADRD Roybal Center (EMBRACE): CLIMBR: A guide for conducting rigorous mechanistic research with behavioral interventions: Introducing the Checklist for Investigating Mechanisms in Behavior-Change Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Virtual.
- June 12, 2025: NBER Coordinating Center on the Economics of AD/ADRD Prevention, Treatment, and Care: First Annual Meeting. Bethesda, MD.