Aligning PCPs and Patients with Alzheimer's Research Efforts: MyAlliance for Cognitive Health

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Abstract New models for recruiting research participants are required to support current and future trials. Recruiting adequately diverse samples of research participants is among the biggest challenges slowing research efforts to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD). Study populations often fall short in representing the genetic, ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic diversity necessary to generalize trial results while the speed of recruitment into trials directly impacts the cost and time to complete studies. These issues are only worsening as the number and size of current and planned trials have dramatically expanded. The University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center (KU ADC; P30AG035982) created MyAlliance for Cognitive Health (MyAlliance) to accelerate participation in research and emphasize reaching under- represented groups (URG: predominantly African Americans, Latinos, and rural residents). The Kansas City region and the state of Kansas are increasingly diverse (>20% minority). MyAlliance is a sustainable and reproducible strategy for engaging a diverse population through 1) a PCP Network to improve dementia care through a financially-sustainable Chronic Care Management program, 2) a Patient Network (MyAlliance Research Registry, derived from patients in the PCP network), and 3) a Community Network of diverse stakeholders delivering robust outreach and education. The sustaining value of MyAlliance is its clinical mission to improve care for all patients and families dealing with dementia. MyAlliance will support PCPs in community practice – emphasizing practices serving a high proportion of URG – with social work Navigators to deliver Chronic Care Management services for their dementia patients. This clinical value is the engine to ensure consistent PCP engagement over time and sustain the network to create a permanent recruitment infrastructure in the community. This R24 award will result in new approaches, content, and tools that will be portable to the AD Center network and beyond to enhance national research recruitment efforts and work to change the culture of research recruitment in the community by linking, aligning, and engaging PCPs, patients, and community stakeholders with research efforts.