The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded a $657,262 Project Grant (CFDA 93.837 - Cardiovascular Diseases Research) to The Johns Hopkins University to conduct implementation research on scaling up community-based interventions for managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Pokhara, Nepal. The overarching goal is to develop an intervention package called SCALE-NCD that leverages community health workers to concurrently address hypertension, diabetes, and smoking in an urban LMIC setting.
The study involves three specific aims: 1) establishing partnerships with local stakeholders to institutionalize and sustain the intervention, 2) understanding equity, determinants, and barriers for scaling up the intervention, and 3) evaluating the effectiveness of SCALE-NCD on reach, adoption, fidelity, sustainability, and cost. The project builds upon the research team's prior work demonstrating the effectiveness of community health worker-led, home-based interventions for reducing blood pressure, blood glucose, and improving smoking cessation rates in semi-urban Nepal.
A sub-award of undisclosed amount was made to the Nepal Development Society to support their involvement in the SCALE-NCD intervention research. The project period runs from March 1, 2024 to February 28, 2029.