The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applications for its program entitled "Developing Interventions for Health-Enhancing Physical Activity" to encourage innovative research to improve the department's understanding of how to increase and maintain health-enhancing physical activity using multi-level interventions. Applicants should use the Socio-Ecological Model as a framework and should test multi-level interventions targeting at least two levels of the model. Interventions to be tested should seek to increase participants' progression toward achieving the physical activity recommendation appropriate to the participants' health, abilities, and conditions.

This FOA also seeks studies that address a wide range of population groups across the lifespan (e.g., racial and ethnic minorities, children, older adults, persons with medical conditions or addictive disorders, and persons with disabilities). Investigators are encouraged to build on prior research to refine evidence-based physical activity interventions and to make use of innovative partnerships within and across sectors as needed to study the implementation and outcomes of the proposed intervention.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to fund highly innovative and promising research aimed at developing multi-level physical activity intervention programs acting on at least two levels of the socioecological model and designed to increase health-enhancing physical activity:

• persons or groups that can benefit from such activity
• That could be made scalable and sustainable for broad use across the nation.

Award information

• The R21 phase may not exceed $275,000 in direct costs for the 2-year project period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs in any single year of the R21 phase.
• The R33 phase may not exceed $750,000 in direct costs for the 3-year project period, with no more than $250,000 in direct costs in any single year of the R33 phase.
• Studies in any age group and special population, including populations at high risk for sedentary behavior, are appropriate for this announcement. Populations of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • Healthy but sedentary or inactive individuals
  • Persons or groups at high risk for a particular disease or condition (e.g. substance use disorder or nicotine dependence) that can be improved by physical activity
  • Persons with an existing disease or condition (e.g., cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, or diabetes or Alzheimer's or related dementias) whose outcomes could be improved by physical activity
    • Where the population of interest is those with obesity or overweight, the intervention should principally aim to improve physical activity and/or reduce sedentary behavior rather than weight loss as the primary aim.
  • Persons of diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial groups with low activity levels
  • Persons with physical, developmental, or intellectual disabilities who may need special approaches for activity promotion
  • Inactive or sedentary elderly individuals or groups
  • Alzheimer's and related dementias
  • Minority and underserved populations at higher risk for conditions associated with inactivity
  • Other groups, if justified by the investigator
  • Comparison of male and female populations or subjects on the desired outcome is highly desiredility

Eligibility Criteria

• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• State governments
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
• Small businesses
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Private institutions of higher education
• City or township governments
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• County governments
• Independent school districts
• Special district governments
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online via given website.

For more information, please visit Grants.gov.