Pre-Announcement: Operating Grants in Diabetes, Psychosocial Health, Prevention and Self-Management (Anticipatory)

CIHR and JDRF Canada are pleased to provide information about a potential funding opportunity we anticipate launching in the near future. It stems from the 2021 Federal Budget announcement on strategic investments in diabetes research.

While this funding opportunity has yet to be finalized, CIHR and JDRF Canada are providing preliminary information at this time to allow the community to prepare and respond to what will be an expedited process.

Overview

Research has shown an increasingly clear relationship between diabetes (both type 1 [T1D] and type 2 diabetes [T2D]) and a variety of psychosocial factors. Psychosocial factors are defined as complex environmental, social, behavioural, and emotional factors and these can influence living well with diabetes, achieving satisfactory diabetes-related medical outcomes, and psychological well-being^{Footnote 1}.

Mental health disorders and psychosocial issues remain an under-researched yet frequent aspect of T1D. There is evidence that clinical depression, for example, is suffered disproportionately by people with T1D^{Footnote 2}, and that among people with T1D, depression is associated with poor adherence to treatment^{Footnote 3Footnote 4}. There is evidence that behavioral health interventions can improve mental health issues such as clinical depression and diabetes distress, as well as diabetes self-management in people with T1D, setting the stage for further research to develop, validate and implement into practice interventions that offer long-lasting, scalable solutions.

T2D has a disproportionate impact on youth of racialized and Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) communities, and individuals from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. The prevalence of T2D in children and adolescents in these populations is on the rise^{Footnote 5}. Complex psychosocial and cultural environments make lifestyle change challenging and adherence to medical recommendations a struggle. 

The Operating Grants in Diabetes, Psychosocial Health, Prevention and Self-Management will support research into approaches that will build on successful models of care, knowledge mobilization, and optimization of self-management. Specific to T1D, this funding opportunity will support research that is focused on interventions and models of care that address psychosocial issues and mental health disorders in people with T1D and thereby improve mental health and associated quality of life and/or clinical outcomes. Specific to T2D, this funding opportunity will support psychosocial health research focused on prevention and treatment in youth and young adults with a focus on Indigenous and racialized, ethnocultural and low socio-economic status (SES) communities that are disproportionately affected by T2D.

Objectives

The objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To generate knowledge and support knowledge mobilization about effective interventions and models of care for psychosocial health and self-management for people living with diabetes
• To advance development and implementation of interventions or models of care to improve the psychosocial health of people with T1D
• To improve Indigenous-led, community-driven prevention of T2D, support of psychosocial health and resilience, models of care and self-management for Indigenous youth and young adults living with, or at risk of, T2D
• To improve prevention of T2D, support of psychosocial health and resilience, models of care and self-management for youth and young adults living with or at risk of T2D in racialized, ethnocultural and low socio-economic status (SES) communities that are disproportionately affected by T2D

Funds available

The anticipated total amount available for this funding opportunity is $8,000,000, enough to fund approximately 8 grants. The maximum amount per grant is $250,000 per year for up to 4 years, for a total of $1,000,000 per grant. Of this $8 million:

• Up to $4,000,000 is available to fund 4 applications relevant to the CIHR-JDRF Funding Pool in T1D.
• Up to $2,000,000 is available to fund 2 applications relevant to the T2D Prevention and Self-Management in Indigenous Youth and Young Adults Funding Pool
• Up to $2,000,000 is available to fund 2 applications relevant to the T2D Prevention and Self-Management in Youth and Young Adults Funding Pool

Anticipated timeline

These dates are estimates and subject to change.

• Program Launch: May 2022
• Application Deadline: November 2022
• Notice of Decision: March 2023

Date modified:

2022-06-21