Ellis Dillon, PhD
Assistant Professor
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/photo/15320
Julie Robison, PhD
Professor
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/photo/4985
Dr. Ellis Dillon and Dr. Julie Robison will serve as Multiple Principal Investigators on a new R01, titled, “Increasing successful returns to community living from nursing facilities through the Money Follows the Person program: Mechanisms for reducing disparities for older adults with dementia.” Dr. Dillon is an Assistant Professor in the Center on Aging with a faculty appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Julie Robison is Professor in the Center on Aging with faculty appointments in the Department of Medicine and Department of Public Health Sciences. This 5-year grant was awarded for $3,474,355. Drs. Rick Fortinsky and Lisa Barry, Center on Aging, and Dr. James Grady, Department of Public Health Sciences will serve as Co-Investigators.
Project Narrative: Most people living with dementia (PLWD) prefer to remain at home in the community, yet research shows that they are less likely than people without dementia to successfully return to the community following nursing facility stays. This mixed methods study analyzes how different factors are driving disparities for PLWD and what potential policy solutions could improve health equity for PLWD, through in-depth interviews with individuals eligible for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program and their informal caregivers, focus groups and surveys with professionals involved in the MFP program, and statistical analysis of a large group of Connecticut Medicaid nursing facility residents. Our team has a long-standing partnership with Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (the state Medicaid administrator) which is enthusiastic about using our findings to reduce disparities in MFP outcomes for this population.
For more information, contact: Center on Aging at Kuchel@uchc.edu