PocketRN Awarded NIH/NIA SBIR Phase II Grant to Advance Research in Virtual Dementia Care at Home

PocketRN and Nevvon will collaborate with the Stanford Evaluation Sciences Unit to study PocketRN’s virtual, nurse-led model for supporting people living with dementia and their caregivers at home.

PocketRN is proud to announce that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to advance research into virtual, nurse-led dementia care delivered in the home.

The research will focus on PocketRN’s model for providing continuous, relationship-based virtual nursing support to people living with dementia and their caregivers. The work will help build evidence and deepen understanding of how this approach can support families navigating dementia at home.

PocketRN and Nevvon will collaborate with the Stanford Evaluation Sciences Unit (ESU) on the research. Nevvon partners with PocketRN to deliver caregiver education and support, providing flexible, mobile-first education designed to build caregiver knowledge and skills. The Stanford partnership will be led by Dr. Ranak Trivedi, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, with Laura Holdsworth, PhD, Director of the Evaluation Sciences Unit, leading the ESU team. Dr. Trivedi is a world-renowned expert in caregiver research and the Stanford ESU brings multidisciplinary expertise in healthcare delivery innovation, implementation and evaluation sciences, health services research, epidemiology, and biostatistics.

“This award gives us an important opportunity to rigorously study how virtual, relationship-based nursing can support people living with dementia and their caregivers at home,” said Sam Thomas, MD, Chief Medical Officer at PocketRN. “Our goal is to build the evidence needed to better understand how this model can support families throughout the dementia journey and inform the future of care delivered in the home.”

PocketRN’s Nurse For Life model pairs families with their own dementia-specialized nurse who checks in regularly to monitor health and support caregivers, while families also have 24/7 access to their care team. The model brings continuity, care coordination, caregiver support, and trusted clinical relationships into the home.

The SBIR program supports research and development by small businesses working to advance innovative solutions to significant health challenges. This Phase II award represents an important next step in PocketRN’s ongoing work to strengthen the evidence base for virtual, nurse-led care models designed around the needs of patients and caregivers at home.

PocketRN looks forward to sharing more about the research as the work progresses.

About PocketRN

PocketRN is the Nurse For Life company, delivering nurse-led virtual care that helps patients and families navigate dementia and complex health needs at home. Through continuous, relationship-based support, PocketRN connects patients and caregivers with dedicated nurses who provide ongoing guidance, care coordination, caregiver support, and 24/7 access to their care team.

About Nevvon

Nevvon is a national caregiver training and workforce enablement platform focused on making high-quality education accessible to professional and family caregivers. Through mobile-first, multilingual training and support, Nevvon helps caregivers build the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills needed to provide high-quality care. In this project, Nevvon provides dementia-focused caregiver education and support integrated into PocketRN's virtual care model.

About the Stanford Evaluation Sciences Unit

The Stanford Evaluation Sciences Unit is a multidisciplinary team focused on developing, evaluating, and implementing healthcare delivery innovations. Its expertise includes implementation and evaluation sciences, health services research, epidemiology, and biostatistics.

Learn more about the Stanford Evaluation Sciences Unit.