Health Confianza Scholar Projects

Health Confianza Scholar Projects
Request for Applications (RFA) CLOSED
If you have any questions about the grant application process, please email Confianza@uthscsa.edu

Funding Agency:  Dept. of Health and Human Services through the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics, UT Health San Antonio

Deadline for Submissions:  Applications will be accepted via email submission to confianza@uthscsa.edu beginning January 5, 2022.  They will be accepted on a first come first served basis and reviewed on a rolling basis until all awards have been made.

Purpose:  Health Confianza is seeking proposals for community- campus collaborations to implement innovative health literacy projects that address COVID-19 health inequities in San Antonio. The goal of Health Confianza is to increase the availability, acceptability, and use of COVID-19 health information and services among Hispanics and African Americans living in 22 target zip codes (Fig. 1) in San Antonio.

Applicant Team:  The grant application will be submitted by a learner (student, resident, or fellow under the supervision of a faculty member) from any profession at UT Health San Antonio in collaboration with a community organization interested in identifying the health literacy needs of their clients and collaboratively developing a project to address the needs.  The Health Confianza Scholars program creates opportunities for learners to experience working within the community-based settings in San Antonio, Texas.  This learning environment attracts students and trainees who are dedicated to improving health equity and who will be a pipeline of passionate, culturally competent health professionals who recognize the need to advocate for and prioritize health and preventive services to medically underserved communities.  Health professional learners from local universities (e.g. UTSA, University of Incarnate Word, UT School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus) are invited to participate on the community-campus partnership team and will need a faculty mentor from their institution for oversight of their activities.

Eligible Projects:  Community-based health education, needs assessment, capacity-building, quality improvement and other projects to develop an equitable community response to COVID-19 through health literacy.  Projects will serve clients in one or more of the 22 target zip codes (Fig. 1).  Projects must have a UT Health San Antonio learner (student, resident, or fellow) as the Scholar leading the project, a UT Health San Antonio faculty mentor; and a partnership with a community-based organization serving one or more of the 22 zip codes.

Funding:  For projects that are awarded a Health Confianza Scholar grant, funding will be provided up to $25,000 for direct project support.  All grant awards must be expended no later than April 15, 2023.

Budget Preparation Guidelines and Policies:  Provide budget (Health Confianza Project Form) with your submission and justify costs within the application.  Budgets must be for a minimum of $10,000.  See Proposal Considerations for more details.

Submission Instructions:  Complete application packet (see below) should be emailed as a single PDF file to confianza@uthscsa.edu beginning January 5, 2022. Please include your budget as an editable excel file (.xlsx format) as well. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until all awards have been made.

Application Packet: Should include the following:

• Health Confianza Grant Application
• Health Confianza Project Budget Form
• Letter of Support from UT Health San Antonio Faculty Mentor
• Letter of Support from Community Partner Organization

Program Contacts:
Melanie Stone, MPH, MEd or Jason Rosenfeld DrPH, MPH
Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics
UT Health San Antonio
confianza@uthscsa.edu
(210) 567-0795

Proposal Considerations

IRB

It is the responsibility of the Confianza Scholar and faculty mentor to obtain review from the Office of the Institutional Review Board (IRB).  It is suggested you contact the IRB office before starting your project to clarify status:  http://research.uthscsa.edu/irb/

Community Partner Organization

A community-based organization must be identified in the proposal as the community partner.  A community organization is considered to be a community center, non-profit organization, church, clinic or other place where clients are receptive to health-related services.  The community partner should have considerable input into the proposal, and there should be evidence that the proposal clearly meets a specific community expressed need.  A letter of support from the community partner is a requirement of the proposal.

Outcomes & Evaluation

Your objectives should be written in the SMART format.  See Fig. 2 for more information about writing SMART objectives.

Monitoring and evaluation strategies for the outcomes of your intervention should be clearly stated in the proposal.  At the time of award, guidance will be provided on data to be collected, which will include zip codes and race/ethnicity of clients served through your project.

The seed grants are part of a larger city-wide grant to develop an equitable community response to COVID-19 through health literacy.   As such, the seed grants need to choose from at least one standardized outcome measure to be evaluated; these are listed in Table 1.

Presentation / Dissemination

Under mentor guidance, the Confianza Scholar will be expected to create and present a poster of their project results for the Health Confianza Summit, scheduled for early May 2023. The poster abstract and poster submission guidelines will be provided closer to the date. Presentation at the Summit is a mandatory condition for receipt of the award. Scholars are also encouraged to present their projects at other community and academic venues.

Timeline

The project timeline should be clearly stated in the proposal and include time for preparation, evaluation, and reflection.   All grant monies will need to be expended by April 15, 2023.

Budget

Creation of a program budget of $25,000 for the project is mandatory for the proposal.  Include itemized costs on the Health Confianza Scholar Budget Form and justification within the Health Confianza Scholar Application.  A faculty mentor stipend of up to $5,000 may be included.  These funds will be deposited into the mentor’s discretionary funds to be used towards scholarly activities related to the project.

Award Considerations

Required Orientation for Awardees

Upon the grant award, the Confianza Scholar and mentor will be required to attend an orientation to discuss outcomes reporting and grant management requirements. Details of the orientation will be provided at the time of award decision.

Agreement

The Confianza Scholar, faculty mentor, and community partner representative will all be required to sign an agreement stating they agree to the stipulations of the grant.

Funds Disbursement

Upon award, grant funds will be available through a Project ID that is set up.  The faculty mentor will be responsible for placing orders and submitting reimbursement for the items outlined in the project’s budget.  If changes need to be made to the budget during the course of the project, notify Melanie Stone for approval.

Info Sessions

While it was required to attend an Info Session prior to submitting a grant application, we understand that extenuating circumstances prevented some of you from attending.  If that is the case for you, please watch the whole video.

Table 1. Standardized outcome Measures (choose at least one)