Objective:
Mobilizing for Health® is the McKesson Foundation's grant initiative that provides funding for research studies focused on mobile phone-based interventions for low-income patients with chronic diseases. Specifically, we are seeking research proposals that seek to evaluate mHealth applications, with priority given to researchers studying the use of mobile in cancer management. The research studies funded by these grants will build toward the ultimate goal of the Mobilizing for Health® initiative, which is to improve health outcomes among under-served patients with chronic diseases through the widespread adoption of successful mHealth solutions. Grant requests of up to $250,000 will be considered.
Eligibility:
- Applicant organizations must be registered U.S. public charities or universities, although the studies may be conducted outside of the U.S.
- Have the goal of publication in peer-reviewed journals to further knowledge sharing in the field
- Have a study time frame from start to finish of no more than 18 months
- Propose interventions that have the potential to be highly scalable using existing technologies
- Address low health literacy barriers
We will not consider funding for:
- The development of mobile phone-based applications for commercial purposes
- Studies focused on interventions that do not have the opportunity for low-cost, wide-spread adoption
Evaluation Process and Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated in a two-tiered review process. As a first step, the proposals will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary Advisory Council, which is comprised of disease management specialists, technologists and medical professionals from across McKesson Corporation. The Advisory Council will pass their recommendations on to the McKesson Foundation's Board of Directors who will make the final selection of award winners.
The proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Intellectual rigor: Is the research question, study design and proposed method sufficiently rigorous and interesting? Will the study be accepted into a top-tier, peer-reviewed journal?
- Significance of the problem statement and anticipated results: Will the anticipated results influence the wide-scale adoption and usage of mHealth solutions by underserved populations? Will the results substantively contribute to the advancement of the mHealth field?
- Feasibility: Is the study well-designed and likely to meet to the stated objectives and lead to the anticipated results? Are the budget and timeline realistic and appropriate?
- Team qualifications: Does the team have the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to achieve the anticipated results? Do core team members have a track record of broadly disseminating their research results and publishing in peer-reviewed publications?
- Study population: Is the study population broad enough to ensure that the results are widely applicable?
