Dr Stuart & Bonnie Bartle Research Translation Grant in Dementia Care
Bartle Pathway to Care
The Bartle Pathway to Care initiative was established by the family of Dr Stuart and Bonnie Bartle, in honour of their generosity and legacy. Through this initiative, research funding is provided for projects that aim to enhance equal, compassionate and supportive care for people living with dementia and their families, while encouraging innovation and change in the care that is available.
The Bartle Pathway to Care supports research that values the importance of family, enhances the care of people living with dementia and their families to create a supportive environment, and enables care facilities to provide a level of care that allows people living with dementia to do so with dignity, courage, and confidence.
Purpose
The Dr Stuart and Bonnie Bartle Research Translation Grant in Dementia Care aims to accelerate the real-world adoption of evidence-based strategies that contribute to best practice approaches to dementia care. The scheme encourages proposals from both new and established groups, which may be multi-disciplinary and include members with expertise in knowledge translation or implementation science.
By bringing in expertise from both within and outside the field of dementia, the scheme seeks to identify new approaches and collaborations that enable evidence to move more effectively into sustainable practice—ultimately improving outcomes for people living with dementia, their families, and carers.
Topic and Scope
The grant is awarded to research that explores the real-world adoption of innovative strategies aimed at improving the quality of care received by people living with dementia.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, supporting carers and families, for example by exploring how carers and families can be better supported, or how they can better support the person living with dementia. Other eligible topics include care systems, such as research into models of care across community settings, residential aged care, or hospitals, and what health services need to provide optimal care. This may involve clinical care practices (not related to drug trials or development), or workforce skills and training.
Importantly, funded projects will aim to move evidence along the pathway to practice, with the goal of improving outcomes for people living with dementia, their families and carers. This may include pilot studies that evaluate interventions or strategies in real-world settings (again, not related to drug trials or development), or the adaptation of international interventions for the Australian context.
Project Team
Applicants must demonstrate appropriate research credentials and the strength of their proposal and team. Applications from multi-disciplinary teams are encouraged. These may include scientists, health professionals, public health researchers, implementation science experts, policy makers, and representatives from community or residential aged care services. Applications may include up to 10 Investigators in total.
Each team must include at least one early- and/or mid-career researcher, defined as not more than 10 years post-PhD at the time of application.
It is highly recommended that people living with dementia, their carers and families are involved in the project from initiation through to completion. When assembling your team, please ensure that it meets the relevant eligibility criteria.
Award Funding
The Research Translation Grant is worth up to $460,000 and may be used over a period of 2 to 3 years. Funding may vary depending on the quality of applications received and the proposed budgets. Within the total pool of $460,000, more than one grant may be awarded.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for a Research Translation Grant, the following conditions must be met:
At the time of application, acceptance and for the duration of the grant, the applicant (Chief Investigator A, or CIA) must be an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, a permanent resident of Australia, or hold an appropriate work visa. The CIA must also be based in Australia for at least 80% of the project duration. All applicants must provide evidence to their host institution to support this criterion. Host institutions are responsible for certifying and ensuring compliance, and the Dementia Australia Research Foundation may request further information.
The research team must include at least one early- and/or mid-career researcher with no more than 10 years post-PhD experience at the time of applying, adjusted for career interruptions. This means the PhD (or equivalent: DPhil or M.D. by research) must have been awarded on or after 29 July 2015, and the thesis must be passed before March 2026, which is the proposed commencement date of the project. Early- and/or mid-career investigators must be clearly identified in the application, and supporting evidence may be requested.
The research must be conducted primarily in Australia and align with the topic and scope of the funding round.
Where applicable, the research must be approved by an authorised ethics committee. Please note that grant payments may be withheld until ethics approval is obtained.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.dementia.org.au/research/dementia-australia-research-foundation-grants/information-applicants)
