| FAQs
- General Programmatic FAQs
- Programmatic Goals FAQs
- Eligibility / Selection Criteria FAQs
- Proposal Application Process FAQs
- Other Funding Opportunities FAQs
General Programmatic FAQs
1. What is Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change?
Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that seeks to improve the quality of health care provided to patients affected by racial and ethnic disparities. Finding Answers aims to achieve this goal by:
-
Granting funds to discover and evaluate practical and replicable solutions designed to reduce and eliminate disease specific racial and ethnic health care disparities;
-
Focusing on interventions aimed at health care delivery for one or more of the following health concerns: cardiovascular disease, depression, or diabetes;
-
Conducting systematic reviews of the literature regarding racial and ethnic health care disparities interventions; and
-
Disseminating results from these research efforts and systematic reviews to encourage health care systems to address racial and ethnic gaps in care.
The National Program Office (NPO) for Finding Answers is located at the University of Chicago.
2. The Web site and Call For Proposals (CFP) emphasize funding for the evaluation of interventions, not the interventions themselves. Will Finding Answers support the cost of the intervention delivery?
Finding Answers requires grantees to direct at least 75% of the proposed budget toward evaluation. Finding Answers will fund only up to 25% of the intervention costs, and expects that grantees will utilize other funding sources for the bulk of intervention start-up and delivery costs. Many governmental and private organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, directly fund interventions designed to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. However, the empirical literature continues to indicate a significant need for sophisticated and pragmatic evaluation of interventions. Moreover, many current evaluation findings do not gather or report data necessary for reliable replication of successful interventions across diseases, populations or health care settings. This situation results partially from a lack of resources in many organizations for sophisticated evaluation of their programs.
3. Please provide more information about the requirement to limit intervention costs to 25% of the grant award. What do you mean by "start-up" and "delivery" costs?
The distinction is between the grant funds used for the costs of intervention delivery (a maximum of 25%) and the costs of evaluating the intervention (a minimum of 75%). It may be helpful to think of the 25% limit as pertaining solely to costs of delivering the intervention proposed for evaluation, regardless of when those costs are incurred during the project timeline (e.g., project planning phase, data collection phase or analysis phase). Grantees are encouraged to utilize other sources of funding for the bulk of intervention costs to supplement the 25% allowable funds from RWJF.
4. What is the indirect cost rate for the Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change funding opportunity?
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a maximum indirect cost rate of 12%. Indirect costs are overhead expenses incurred by the applicant organization as a result of the project but that are not easily identifiable with a specific project. These are generally administrative expenses that are related to overall operations and are shared among projects and/or functions. Examples include executive oversight, accounting, grants management, legal expenses, utilities, and facility maintenance. If you have further questions regarding the indirect cost rates please contact the National Program Office.
5. Does the 12% indirect funds count towards the overall requested budget amount, or is that in addition to the overall requested amount?
The 12% indirect funds should be counted toward the overall requested amount. You should develop your requested budget, then calculate the indirect cost as 12% of your budget. Your original budget, added with the 12% indirect cost, will be your overall budget request, and should not exceed $275,000.
Please note if the Purchased Services category (subcontracts and consultant fees/agreements) represents more than 33% of the RWJF portion of the applicant institution's budget, the indirect percentage rate allowed on this category is 4%, not 12%.
Finally, RWJF does not prescribe an allowable indirect cost rate for organizations that will be subcontracting with a grantee. RWJF only requests that the grantee negotiate the best possible terms from the subcontract organization for the work to be accomplished.
6. What are the rules about indirect cost rates for subcontracts and purchased services?
Indirect costs are overhead expenses incurred by the applicant organization as a result of the project but that are not easily identifiable with a specific project. These are administrative expenses that are related to overall operations and are shared among projects and/or functions. Examples include executive oversight, accounting, grants management, legal expenses, utilities, and facility maintenance.
When applying to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Foundation’s approved indirect cost rate for the applicant institution is 12% of all RWJF costs (Personnel, Other Direct Costs, and Purchased Services) associated with the project. However, if the Purchased Services category (subcontracts and consultant fees/agreements) represents more than 33% of the RWJF portion of the applicant institution's budget, the percentage allowed on this category is 4%.
RWJF does not prescribe an allowable indirect cost rate for organizations that will be subcontracting with a grantee. RWJF only requests that the grantee negotiate the best possible terms from the subcontract organization for the work to be accomplished.
7. When creating a budget, what do I need to know about subcontracts and purchased services?
When subcontracts are included in your budget, you will be asked to submit a fact sheet or copy of the actual subcontract showing the subcontractor's name, the contract dates, the dollar amount of the subcontract, and the deliverables. If a subcontract is to be amended, the National Program Office and RWJF need to see a copy of the amendment or a memorandum explaining what elements are being changed. If this information was not provided at the time your budget was negotiated, it must be provided prior to expending any funds for the subcontract. The program requires the following information on subcontracts:
Please go to http://rwjf.org/files/publications/RWJF_ContractualAgreements.pdf for additional important details.
8. I have heard that medical research studies must be registered in a national clinical trials registry or they will not be accepted for publication. Does this requirement apply to research funded by Finding Answers? Where can I get more information?
Finding Answers evaluation projects that meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors definition of a trial must register in an approved registry.
In 2004, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) wrote an editorial noting the importance of accessible information about all clinical trials and the problems of selective reporting of trials (e.g., trial sponsors sometimes not reporting trials that reflect unfavorably on a tested product). In this editorial, the ICMJE described the need for a uniform, free and publicly accessible registry of clinical trials. The editorial also noted that to be considered for publication in major medical journals, trials starting on or after July 1, 2005 must be registered in an approved registry (Ann Intern Med. 2004;141:477-478). This requirement may, or may not, apply to studies funded by Finding Answers.
In a follow-up to the 2004 editorial, the ICMJE described further their definition of clinical trials that require registry: "Any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention and comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. By 'medical intervention' we mean any intervention used to modify a health outcome. This definition includes drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, process-of-care changes, and the like. We update our 2004 editorial to state that a trial must have at least one prospectively assigned concurrent control or comparison group in order to trigger the requirement for registration" (De Angelis C, Drazen JM, Frizelle FA, Haug C, Hoey J, Horton R, et al. Clinical trial registration: a statement from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141:477-8. Epub 2004 Sep 8).
All applicants should learn more about the clinical trials registry requirements and if they apply to their proposed evaluation project. The above citations and the following Web site have additional information about the clinical trials registry requirements, including how to access a list of currently approved registries. www.icmje.org/faq.pdf
9. What if I have a question that is not answered here?
You may send questions to info@solvingdisparities.org. We prefer to receive questions by email, however, should you wish to contact us by phone, please call toll-free: 866-344-9800. Please be sure to include the name of the institution and detailed contact information in your communication.
10. How can I find out more about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation?
Please go to the Foundation's Web site, www.rwjf.org, for more information about funding opportunities, lessons learned from past grantmaking and other information related to the Foundation's mission.
11. How can I get additional copies of the Call For Proposals (CFP)?
The CFP can be downloaded at http://www.solvingdisparities.org/apply/cfp. Alternatively, you may call 866-344-9800 to request an electronic version of the CFP via email.
Programmatic Goals FAQs
1. Why are the goals of Finding Answers important?
The IOM report released in March 2002, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, confirmed the existence of racial and ethnic disparities in health care that result in increased health complications, increased mortality and decreased quality of life for members of racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States.
While the existence of racial and ethnic health care disparities has been firmly established, the field has not found a practical blend of strategies and interventions that effectively work to reduce these disparities. Without better knowledge of practical steps to reduce disparities in health care, health care organizations are often unable to address the gaps. Furthermore, recent research indicates that the majority of past efforts to diminish these gaps have either failed or led to limited improvements (Jha AK, Fisher ES, Li Z, Orav EJ, and Epstein AM. Racial Trends in the Use of Major Procedures among the Elderly. N Engl J Med. 2005; 353: 34-42). The time has come to move beyond documenting the existence of health care disparities to finding solutions that will eliminate them.
2. How will the findings of funded projects help to meet the goals of Finding Answers?
Many health care organizations—including health plans, hospitals, and physician groups—are positioned to address racial and ethnic health care disparities as part of their ongoing quality improvement efforts. However, these organizations often report that they do not have the necessary knowledge to complete, or even begin, this improvement work. Therefore, in addition to awarding and managing research grants, Finding Answers will create and broadly promote a database of promising interventions. The database will reflect the knowledge gathered by the Finding Answers research projects, and will capture other research as well. By having access to a database that reflects the best knowledge about evidence-based solutions, we hope that more health care organizations will begin solving this unacceptable problem.
Eligibility / Selection Criteria FAQs
1. Why does the Call For Proposals and Web site emphasize health care disparities and not simply health disparities?
Health care disparities refer specifically to disparities in how health care is delivered and the systems that influence delivery. Health disparities in general can mean many things, including disparities in access to health care and overall differences in health outcomes of various diseases, illnesses and life-expectancy for various racial and ethnic groups. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, along with many other governmental and private entities, is investing significant resources in various aspects of health disparities. Investigating and eliminating all types of health and health care disparities is critical. With the knowledge that many are working hard to address other facets of health disparities, Finding Answers focuses on how racial and ethnic disparities can be eliminated in the health care delivery system.
2. Why does Finding Answers only fund evaluation of interventions aimed at the treatment of cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes?
Finding Answers is focusing on these diseases because research shows that racial and ethnic gaps in the treatment of these diseases are significant and the recommended standards of care are clear. Additionally, these diseases affect large numbers of patients, are related to serious health outcomes (like higher mortality rates), and often result in poor quality of life. Therefore, we hope that these evaluations will identify promising solutions that will inform current efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
3. Will Finding Answers fund proposals targeting a specific racial or ethnic group(s)?
Yes. Applicants may target a specific population group or include a diversity of subgroups, but the target population(s) must be clearly defined in the proposal. Additionally, as indicated in the Call For Proposals, proposals will also be evaluated on the volume of patients from underserved racial or ethnic populations, the volume of racial/ethnic minority populations currently utilizing services for the target health condition(s) (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression) at your organization and/or partner organization(s), the agency's commitment to improving care for the project's target populations and the potential for the intervention to be utilized in other settings or with other populations.
4. Are there any age requirements for the intervention evaluations funded by Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change?
There are no age restrictions for the target populations of the interventions proposed for evaluation using Finding Answers funds.
5. The Call For Proposals states that proposals will be evaluated on the "degree of innovation" of the intervention. What do you mean by "innovation"?
Finding Answers will support proposals that present new approaches or ideas to address the long-standing issues of racial and ethnic disparities in health care delivery. A project that can simultaneously demonstrate potential for effectiveness in reducing racial and ethnic health care disparities and ease of replication in other settings, and that requires minimal cost, is one example of innovation. However, Finding Answers is open to all intervention ideas that have promise to significantly impact racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Significant expansions of previously piloted efforts may also be considered.
6. Are interventions addressing specific sub-categories of cardiovascular disease, depression or diabetes eligible for Finding Answers grants? (e.g., postpartum depression, chronic kidney disease among patients with diabetes or hypertension)?
Yes. They are eligible for Finding Answers grants. However, the overall goal of Finding Answers is to discover innovative solutions to racial and ethnic disparities in health care for depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Interventions directly targeting one of these health concerns are generally more competitive than interventions directed toward sub-groups or sub-categories (i.e., interventions that stray from targeting core general depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease variables).
7. Are prevention programs, such as tobacco cessation or obesity interventions, eligible for Finding Answers grants?
RWJF funds multiple stand-alone tobacco and exercise/obesity interventions through other programs and wishes to focus the Finding Answers project on more comprehensive interventions. Therefore, stand-alone prevention interventions such as tobacco cessation or exercise programs are not eligible for Finding Answers grants unless they are one part of a larger, more comprehensive, intervention.
8. What do you consider an adequate volume of patients from underserved racial or ethnic populations? What is an adequate volume of patients with the condition addressed by intervention?
There is no single answer to these questions because it will vary depending on the details of the intervention proposed for evaluation, the specific research questions the applicant wishes to answer and, in the case of some quantitative research, other considerations such as the number of hypotheses being tested. The main consideration about volume is whether the applicant organization has enough patients in their target population(s) to answer the research questions they propose.
Because we do not advise applicants on project design, it is important for applicants to work with evaluators, statisticians, or other appropriate researchers to address questions about their overall proposal design, whether they have enough patients in their target population(s) to collect the necessary data, their data collection procedures and plans for analyses. By addressing these types of questions with a qualified researcher, evaluator or statistician applicants should then be able to determine if they have an adequate volume of patients in their target population(s).
9. Can applicants target more than one of the three health concerns?
Yes. Applicants can propose evaluating interventions directed at any combination of one or more of the three health concerns (depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease).
10. What if my institution has an intervention eligible for evaluation funding but does not have qualified staff to conduct the evaluation?
In such cases, the institution should propose a partnership with a recognized academic or research group that can supply the necessary evaluation expertise. In such instances, grants will be awarded to the institution conducting the intervention. The institution conducting the intervention (the lead organization) would then sub-contract with the academic or research group providing the evaluation expertise.
Each applicant may have more than one principal investigator. The first principal investigator must be at the lead organization and must have direct administrative oversight of the intervention proposed for evaluation and the staff that deliver the intervention. To accommodate these requirements, Finding Answers is flexible regarding the educational background of the first principal investigator.
There can also be additional principal investigators (for example, an academic collaborator from a university). Either the principal investigator at the lead applicant organization or another principal investigator must be able to perform a rigorous evaluation of the intervention.
11. Will Finding Answers directly fund academic or research groups/organizations?
No. Finding Answers will only directly fund health care delivery institutions. However, eligible institutions may partner/sub-contract with academic or research groups. Alternatively, some eligible institutions may currently have an academic or research group in-house. Evidence of the qualifications of the academic or research group should be demonstrated within in the brief proposal additional documents (Resume Template, Organizational Partner Info Template, and the Organizational Flow Chart Template).
12. For provider organizations that wish to collaborate with an academic institution or research group, what is the eligible partnership arrangement?
Grants awarded under Finding Answers will go to organizations that administratively house and directly provide the intervention to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities. All interventions proposed for evaluation must occur within the direct context of a consistent source of medical care or delivery. Thus, for proposed partnerships, the organization delivering the intervention should be the primary/lead applicant. However, eligible institutions may partner/sub-contract with academic or research groups with evaluation expertise.
In cases such as this, there may be one or more principal investigators. The first principal investigator must be at an eligible primary/lead applicant organization and must have direct administrative oversight of the intervention proposed for evaluation and the staff that deliver the intervention. To accommodate these requirements, Finding Answers is flexible regarding the educational background of the first principal investigator.
There can also be additional principal investigators (for example, an academic collaborator from a university). Either the principal investigator at the lead applicant organization or another principal investigator must be able to perform a rigorous evaluation of the intervention.
13. If an academic group partners with a health care plan or provider organization, does the PI have to be from the plan or provider organization or can the PI be from the academic group?
There may be one or more principal investigators. One principal investigator must be at an eligible primary/lead applicant organization. The main eligibility criterion for this first principal investigator is that he or she has direct administrative oversight of the intervention proposed for evaluation and the staff that deliver the intervention. To accommodate these requirements, Finding Answers is flexible regarding the educational background of proposed principal investigators.
There can also be another principal investigator at a partner/subcontract organization (for example, an academic collaborator from a university). Either the principal investigator at the lead applicant organization or a second principal investigator must be able to perform a rigorous evaluation of the intervention. PIs in addition to the lead organization PI are optional.
14. Are for-profit organizations eligible for Finding Answers funding?
Yes, however preference will be given to applicants that are public agencies or are tax-exempt under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations as defined under Section 509(a).
15. Are individuals eligible for Finding Answers funding?
No.
Proposal Application Process FAQs
1. Where do I find format requirements and detailed instructions for the brief and full proposal ?
The format requirements for current calls for proposals can be found on The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Grantmaking Online (GO) system. Please use the following link to create a registration ID and password for GO:
http://grantmaking.rwjf.org/common/login.jsp?program=dsn2.
Registering with GO requires applicants to create a unique username and password. If you have previously applied for a different Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant opportunity through GO, you CANNOT re-use your username and password.
Additionally, the NPO hosts informational web conferences to assist applicants during both the brief and full proposal process. For more information about future web conferences and archived presentations please visit the web conferences portion of our website.
2. How is the program administered? Who reviews the proposals?
The program is administered by RWJF staff, staff of the Finding Answers National Program Office (NPO) at the University of Chicago, and by a National Advisory Committee (NAC) selected specifically for the Finding Answers project. The members of the NAC are a wide-ranging panel of highly accomplished academic and health care experts who specialize in health care disparities and health care delivery. Additionally, the NAC includes members who represent health care consumers. The majority of the NAC self-identify as members of underserved racial and ethnic minority groups. Staff members of RWJF and the NPO review all brief proposals, utilizing NAC members for guidance and expertise. The NAC reviews full proposals. The NAC, in conjunction with RWJF staff, determines grant awards. The grant review process is rigorous to ensure fairness, integrity and program effectiveness.
For more information on the NPO staff and NAC, please visit our website at www.solvingdisparities.org.
3. How do you choose between the applicants invited to submit a full proposal and those declined?
The review committee determines which brief proposals most closely meet the program criteria outlined in the Call For Proposals and overall goals for Finding Answers. We anticipate a large response, so please be aware that selections will be made from what will most likely be an excellent group of brief proposals. It is certainly likely that some brief proposals meeting many, if not all, of the selection criteria will not be invited to submit full proposals.
4. Do you accept paper proposals?
No. Proposals must be submitted using the Grantmaking Online system that can also be accessed via the program Web site at www.solvingdisparities.org.
5. What if I miss a deadline?
To be fair to all applicants, there are no exceptions to any deadlines.
6. Will I receive written feedback?
You will receive a letter notifying you about the decision on whether or not your brief or full proposal advances to the next step in the grantmaking process. However, you will not receive feedback or individual critique of the proposal.
7. Whom do I contact if I have problems with the Grantmaking Online system?
Feel free to contact the National Program Office (NPO) by sending an e-mail to info@solvingdisparities.org. You can also contact the NPO toll-free at 866-344-9800. E-mail is the preferred method of contact.
8. If I send you question via phone or email, when can I expect a response?
The National Program Office (NPO) will respond to your questions within one business day of receipt. Please read the next question and response for additional important information about this topic.
9. How can I be sure I will get my response in time for the submission deadline?
In order to ensure that you will have all of your questions answered in time for the submission deadline, we recommend that you apply as soon as possible. All applicants should log in to the system and familiarize themselves with online submission requirements well before the final submission deadline. If you do not begin the online application process early, you may run the risk of having questions that cannot be quickly answered in the final days before the Grantmaking Online system is closed. Program staff may not be able to assist all applicants in the final 24 hours before the submission deadline.
10. I have applied for RWJF grants before using the online system. Can I use my old applicant ID and password to enter the Finding Answers section of Grantmaking Online?
No, you must select a new applicant ID and password to enter the Finding Answers section of Grantmaking Online.
11. Can more than one person access my proposal via the Grantmaking Online system?
Yes, you can share your user ID and password with anyone who is working on your proposal. However, if more than one person is using the same user ID and password AT THE SAME TIME, the system may not register the appropriate changes, so please make sure you are aware when people are editing your proposal in the system.
12. How can I check on the status of my proposal?
You will receive an e-mail from the Grantmaking Online system confirming that you have submitted your proposal successfully. We expect to receive many proposals, all of which must go through the same review process. The timeline outlined in the Call For Proposals will orient you to the steps of the grantmaking process. If you have a question about a specific proposal, send an e-mail to info@solvingdisparities.org or call at 866-344-9800. E-mail is the preferred method of contact. Please be sure to include the name of the institution, the primary investigator and contact information in your communication.
13. Once I have submitted my proposal, can I make changes?
If you need to make changes after you have received a confirmation email from Grantmaking Online, you must contact the National Program Office (NPO) in order to make changes to your proposal. However, no changes will be allowed after the submission deadline. You can contact the NPO by sending an e-mail to info@solvingdisparities.org, or call the NPO toll-free at 866-344-9800. E-mail is the preferred method of contact.
14. What recommendations do you have for using Grantmaking Online?
-
After you register in Grantmaking Online, read the Quickstart Guide and all available instructions.
-
When completing the “About My Organization” screen, be sure to answer the questions with regards to the primary/lead organization (the organization administratively housing and directly providing the intervention).
-
When you are finished you must go to the home screen to submit your proposal. The GO system will send a confirmation email after you have successfully submitted your application. If you are having difficulty submitting your proposal, please contact the National Program Office.
-
Be sure to start your application early in the process and familiarize your self with the Grantmaking Online system. Program staff may not be able to assist all applicants in the final 24 hours before the submission deadline.
-
Be aware of time zone differences with regards to submission deadlines.
1. Are there any other Robert Wood Johnson Foundation programs that may be appropriate for my organization?
Please visit the RWJF web site at www.rwjf.org. The Foundation has more than 70 national programs in health and health care.
2. Can you suggest other possible sources of funding for my organization?
You may wish to contact the Foundation Center, a resource organization on foundations. Their Web site is www.fdncenter.org. Their phone number is 1-800-424-9836.
| 
