The UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education is now accepting proposals for its small grant program, designed to promote interprofessional collaborative practice initiatives. Deadline for proposal submission is 5 p.m., Nov. 10, 2017.

Program Goal:

Promote the scholarship of interprofessional collaboration and practice in the areas of clinical care

The project requesting support may include, but is not limited to, a focus on:

1. The impact of interprofessional practice on (for example):

• Patient outcomes
• Patient safety
• Patient experience
• Cost-effectiveness of health care

or

2. Research on interprofessional practices (i.e., development/validation of interprofessional practice assessment measures)

Award:
Multiple grants will be awarded. Grants will range from $5,000 to $15,000.

Eligibility Criteria:

• The Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PIs and other investigators may be faculty, postdocs, graduate students, or clinical staff — but must be affiliated with UAMS (faculty or staff must be UAMS employees; graduate students must be enrolled in UAMS Graduate School).
• The investigator team must have an interprofessional composition. “Interprofessional” is defined as the representation of two or more professions (e.g., nurse and physician, pharmacist and physician assistant).
• In addition to including investigators representing multiple professions, the proposed project should aim to establish a relationship between interprofessional practice and outcomes.
• Scholarly work that establishes baseline data or demonstrates strong potential for obtaining additional funding will be viewed favorably.

Application Process:
Include abbreviated curriculum vitae (or NIH Biosketch) of all investigators
Include letter(s) of support from the supervisor of the PI and Co-PI (if applicable)

Maximum of five pages including:

1. Specific Aims
2. Significance and Innovation
3. Rationale for the interprofessional team’s composition, along with roles and responsibilities for each project team member
4. A description of how an interprofessional team is required for project design and implementation
5. How the project addresses one or more elements of the Triple Aim (improved patient experience, improved population health or reduced cost for care)
6. Rationale and Approach (including methods, outcome measures, data analysis plans, and project evaluation)
7. A plan to evaluate the project’s outcomes and the function of the interprofessional team
8. Plan for dissemination of results (presentation of work at a relevant national meeting and/or publication is required)
9. References cited will not count as part of the page limit
10. Timeline (including a progress report at six months and project completion within 12 months after receiving funds/IRB approval)
11. IRB approval (if available). Note that IRB approval is required before funding can be awarded.
12. Budget (may include salary support, travel to present at a professional meeting, supplies, participant fees, IRB fee, and other expenses needed to conduct the work.) Entire awarded amount will be transferred after receipt of IRB approval.

ALL MATERIALS MUST BE COMBINED AND SUBMITTED IN A SINGLE PDF DOCUMENT.

For questions about this grant program, please contact the Office of Interprofessional Education, ipe@uams.edu or call (501)686-5686.

Deadline: 5 p.m., Nov. 10, 2017
Submit completed application packet as a single PDF file to: provost@uams.edu.

Story by Jon C. Parham for Inside UAMS