Department of Defense (DoD) Gulf War Illness, Patient-Provider and Health Communications Award

The FY20 GWIRP Patient−Provider and Health Communications Award supports projects aimed at tools and processes to raise awareness of GWI research and clinical findings within communities, including Veterans with GWI and/or their caregivers or advocates, healthcare providers who serve Veterans with GWI, and/or public health professionals relevant to Veterans with GWI. Strategies developed under this funding opportunity should consider GWI findings at any phase of the research pipeline.

Impact: Activities supported by the Patient−Provider and Health Communications Award will have potential for major impact on quality of life for Veterans with GWI by increasing awareness, understanding, and education of current evidence-based GWI research in diverse audiences. The impact should be near-term and demonstrate strong potential to help Veterans, caregivers, or clinicians communicate effectively about GWI, potential treatments, and disease management.

Gulf War Veteran Involvement: Applications are required to include involvement of at least one Gulf War Veteran with GWI. This individual(s) will be integral throughout the planning and implementation of the research project. The Gulf War Veteran(s) should be involved in the development of the research idea, project design, oversight, and evaluation to help ensure a substantial positive impact on Gulf War Veterans with GWI. Interactions between the Veteran(s) and other team members should be thoroughly integrated into the project and ongoing, not limited to attending seminars or semi-annual meetings. A Gulf War Veteran’s role in the project should be independent of their employment, i.e., they cannot be employees of any of the organizations participating in the application. They may, however, receive compensation as consultants or collaborators. A Gulf War Veteran’s role should be focused on providing objective input on the communication strategy or other project deliverables and the potential for substantive impact on individuals with GWI. The Gulf War Veteran(s) should have a high level of knowledge and understanding of GWI symptoms and the scope of GWI’s impact on Veterans with GWI, (2) current GWI issues including clinical care challenges, and (3) existing GWI research to be able to successfully contribute to the project.

Communication and Dissemination Strategies: This award will support development of health communication strategies including media, technical and organizational platforms, and/or other venues that will disseminate current research findings contributing to a state-of-the-science understanding of GWI. The strategies should encourage adoption of new evidence-based approaches to understanding, managing, and treating GWI; refute professional, personal, or institutional stigmas or barriers associated with GWI; or otherwise generate interest in becoming and staying well-informed regarding GWI. Applications should address the following components:

• Identification of one or more of the following GWI community groups as the target audience and identification of the information gaps and needs of that target audience: (1) Veterans with GWI, (2) healthcare providers who serve Veterans with GWI, (3) public health professionals relevant to Veterans with GWI, and/or (4) caregivers of Veterans with GWI.

• An effective and viable communication strategy aimed at informing and engaging the target audience(s). The strategy should demonstrate consideration of optimal media, technical and organizational platforms, and venues to achieve maximal effectiveness in the target audience(s). When the target audience includes health professionals, the plan must include well-rationalized approaches for engagement and participation.

• A process for evaluating and ranking GWI research or clinical information prior to its inclusion in the dissemination process. Approaches for the continuous accrual of evidence-based research findings or healthcare information should be considered.

• A system of ongoing assessments employing metrics to gauge the effectiveness of the communication tool within the GWI community. For example, scoring of pre- and post-intervention knowledge; measurements of changes in practice of clinicians, patients, or caregivers. Mechanisms that enable improvement through community feedback are encouraged.

• Evidence of processes, partnerships, organizations, or agreements as necessary for the maintenance and sustainment of the established process, tool, or material beyond the end of the award period.

Examples of Information Resources: Advocacy groups and researchers have created tools for the dissemination of information for specific medical disorders. Examples are cited below. This list does not address the full scope of needs of the GWI Veteran community nor does it constitute an endorsement of a particular strategy. The proposed strategy should be driven by the considerations described in the outline above.

• ALS Untangled (http://www.alsuntangled.com/): Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients recommend, through social media and other online mechanisms, off-the-shelf or media-hyped treatments in need of scientific/clinical review. Reviews are performed by a body of ALS experts/clinicians, and treatments are scored and posted for patient consideration.

• BrainMetsBC.org (https://www.brainmetsbc.org/): Online resource that provides information about brain metastases. The website includes updates on current research, treatments, and clinical trials, as well as personal experiences written by patients.

• BreastCancerTrials.org (www.breastcancertrials.org/BCTIncludes/index.html): Online resource that educates patients about breast cancer clinical trials and matches them with appropriate trials.

• ImPACT Online (https://psychology.psy.msu.edu/autismlab/impactonline): A web-based, distance-learning program that teaches parents to support their child’s social communication development using a novel blend of evidence-based intervention techniques.

Activities not supported under this Program Announcement include:

• Studies focusing on psychiatric disease or psychological stress as the primary cause of GWI or implementation of care guidelines placing significant emphasis on psychiatric pathologies or psychiatric remedies.

• Applications focusing on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. However, applications that focus on GWI symptomatology may include Gulf War Veterans with ALS if the latter disorder is included in the study’s GWI case definition. For those interested in pursuing ALS-focused studies, the CDMRP offers funding opportunities through the ALS Research Program (see https://cdmrp.army.mil/alsrp).

• Clinical trials. A clinical trial is defined as a research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or behavioral health-related outcomes. Investigators interested in clinical trials should consider applying under the FY20 GWIRP Clinical Evaluation Award or Therapeutic/Biomarker Trial Award (Funding Opportunity Numbers: W81XWH-20-GWIRP-CEA and W81XWH-20-GWIRP-TBTA, respectively). For information about these award mechanisms, see

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/gwirp.

The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 GWIRP Patient−Provider and Health Communications Award will not exceed $600,000. Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information.

Awards will be made no later than September 30, 2021. For additional information refer to Section II.F.1, Federal Award Notices.

The CDMRP expects to allot approximately $960,000 to fund approximately one Patient–Provider and Health Communications Award application. Funding of applications received is contingent upon the availability of Federal funds for this program as well as the number of applications received, the quality and merit of the applications as evaluated by scientific and programmatic review, and the requirements of the Government. Funds to be obligated on any award resulting from this funding opportunity will be available for use for a limited time period based on the fiscal year of the funds. It is anticipated that awards made from this FY20 funding opportunity will be funded with FY20 funds, which will expire for use on September 30, 2026.