Adhera Health Wins NIH/NIMHD Award to Advance its Digital Companion for Chronic Condition-Related Fatigue

Adhera Health will leverage the award to adapt its evidence-based, self-management programs for chronic-condition-related fatigue to the U.S. Latinx population

SANTA CRUZ, CA, UNITED STATES, September 26, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Adhera Health, makers of a trailblazing AI-Precision Digital Companion platform, announced today that it received an award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award allows Adhera Health to adapt its evidence-based, self-management programs for chronic condition-related fatigue to the U.S. Latinx population with the goal of reducing health inequality.

“The NIH award will allow us to better understand and help US Latinx individuals living with chronic diseases and their family caregivers while accelerating the development of our Adhera Fatigue and Adhera Caring digital programs for the U.S. market,” said Ricardo C. Berrios, CEO of Adhera Health. "We believe our transdiagnostic AI-based digital interventions offer an innovative approach to helping individuals manage the triggers that cause fatigue, such as poor sleep, depression, stress, and anxiety. Now we’ll be able to optimize design, to enhance performance and wellbeing to better serve the U.S. Latinx population.”

In earlier studies, Adhera^® Caring, a program dedicated to enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of family caregivers of children with chronic conditions, showed significant reductions in depression and stress levels among family caregivers who utilized the digital program.

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms impacting individuals living with chronic disease, extending to their family caregivers. Weariness from fatigue diminishes an individual’s self-management capabilities, resulting in increased instances of treatment nonadherence and ultimately leading to lower health outcomes. Currently, no digital health companions are available that tackle fatigue caused by chronic conditions, and certainly, none are designed for the Latinx population.

In the fall of 2023, Luis Fernandez-Luque, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Adhera Health, and his team will utilize the funding to spearhead a new human factors study. This study will focus on U.S. Latinx individuals dealing with multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and/or diabetes, as well as family caregivers of children with type 1 diabetes and MS. Additionally, the study will include several clinicians and key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the fields of psychology, MS, RA, and diabetes. The study is set to take place in Los Angeles County, California, with an anticipated research site at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

“Participating in this groundbreaking project with Adhera Health is a privilege,” said Jennifer Raymond, MD, MCR, Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “With the NIH/NIMHD funding support, we will measure how to adapt personalized digital-based interventions for chronic condition-related fatigue to fit the needs of the Latinx population. I’m especially excited to lead the research on pediatric diabetes which also includes addressing the physical and mental wellbeing of the family caregivers of children with Type 1 diabetes."

Shannon McGinley
Adhera Health
+1 408-829-7221
smcginley@adherahealth.com