Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 17 500
Apply for RFA MH 17 500
- The HHS-NIH11 in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pragmatic Strategies for Assessing Psychotherapy Quality in Practice (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 26, 2016 and posted on Feb 26, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 08, 2016. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Opportunity Summary:
The Pragmatic Strategies for Assessing Psychotherapy Quality in Practice (R01) funding opportunity (RFA-MH-17-500) is a National Institutes of Health grant issued under HHS/NIH (CFDA 93.242) focused on improving how psychotherapy quality is measured in real-world care. The central aim is to support research that develops and tests practical ways to assess the quality of how psychosocial interventions are delivered, where "psychosocial interventions" are defined broadly to include provider-delivered behavioral, cognitive, interpersonal, and other psychotherapeutic approaches used to treat or prevent mental health disorders. Rather than emphasizing highly controlled research environments, the opportunity is oriented toward the realities of routine practice, especially the community settings where most care is delivered.
A key feature of this FOA is its insistence on balancing two goals that often compete with each other: psychometric rigor and real-world feasibility. On the rigor side, proposed assessment tools and strategies are expected to demonstrate strong measurement properties, including reliability and validity. Beyond simply being consistent and measuring what they claim to measure, the tools should be meaningfully linked to therapy success, meaning they are strongly predictive of patient outcomes and align with other well-established, "gold standard" indicators of quality. In other words, the FOA is not just looking for easy-to-administer checklists; it is seeking measures that can credibly differentiate higher-quality from lower-quality delivery and that track with results that matter.
On the pragmatic side, the assessment approaches must be realistic for use in typical care settings, where time, staffing, and resources are limited. The intended use cases include supporting training and supervision, enabling ongoing quality monitoring, and informing quality improvement efforts. That emphasis suggests a preference for strategies that can be integrated into clinical workflows without excessive burden, such as approaches that reduce the need for extensive expert coding of therapy sessions, minimize costs, and provide feedback that clinicians and organizations can actually use to improve practice. The overarching idea is to move quality assessment from something that is mainly feasible in research studies to something that can be sustained in everyday mental health services.
Eligibility for this opportunity is broad, covering many types of organizations that might be positioned to develop and test these measurement strategies in applied settings. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and additional applicants as described in the opportunity materials. This wide eligibility aligns with the practice-focused nature of the FOA, since community mental health systems and service organizations often sit outside traditional academic settings.
Administratively, the FOA was posted on February 26, 2016, with a closing date of June 8, 2016. It uses the NIH R01 grant mechanism, which typically supports substantial, multi-year research projects that include both development and empirical testing. While the provided listing does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the intent is clear: fund projects that create and validate usable, high-quality measurement tools for psychotherapy delivery that can be deployed in routine practice and directly support better training, supervision, monitoring, and improvement of mental health care.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the name of this funding opportunity?
The opportunity is titled Pragmatic Strategies for Assessing Psychotherapy Quality in Practice (R01) with the funding opportunity identifier RFA-MH-17-500.
Which agency is offering this grant?
This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant issued under HHS/NIH.
What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?
The CFDA listing provided is 93.242.
What is the main purpose of this FOA?
The central purpose is to support research that develops and tests practical ways to assess psychotherapy quality in real-world care, with a focus on how psychosocial interventions are delivered in routine practice settings.
What does the FOA mean by "psychosocial interventions"?
"Psychosocial interventions" are defined broadly to include provider-delivered approaches such as behavioral, cognitive, interpersonal, and other psychotherapeutic methods used to treat or prevent mental health disorders.
Is this opportunity focused on controlled research settings or routine care settings?
The opportunity is oriented toward the realities of routine practice, especially community settings where most mental health care is delivered, rather than highly controlled research environments.
What kind of projects is the FOA trying to fund?
The FOA aims to fund projects that create and validate usable, high-quality measurement tools or strategies for assessing the quality of psychotherapy delivery in everyday practice, and that can be used to support training, supervision, monitoring, and quality improvement.
What does the FOA mean by balancing "psychometric rigor" and "real-world feasibility"?
It means the proposed assessment approach should be both:
- Psychometrically rigorous (strong reliability and validity, and credible differentiation of higher- vs lower-quality delivery), and
- Pragmatic and feasible in typical care settings with limited time, staffing, and resources.
What measurement properties are expected for the assessment tools or strategies?
The FOA expects strong measurement properties, including:
- Reliability (consistent measurement), and
- Validity (measuring what the tool claims to measure).
Does the FOA want measures that connect to patient outcomes?
Yes. The assessment tools should be meaningfully linked to therapy success, meaning they should be strongly predictive of patient outcomes and align with other well-established "gold standard" indicators of quality.
Is the FOA just looking for simple checklists?
No. The FOA explicitly emphasizes that it is not only seeking easy-to-administer checklists. It is seeking measures that can credibly differentiate higher-quality from lower-quality delivery and that track with outcomes that matter.
What are the intended real-world use cases for these quality assessment approaches?
The intended use cases include:
- Supporting training and supervision
- Enabling ongoing quality monitoring
- Informing quality improvement efforts in mental health care settings
What kinds of feasibility considerations does the FOA highlight?
The FOA emphasizes that assessment approaches should be realistic for typical care settings, suggesting a preference for strategies that:
- Can be integrated into clinical workflows without excessive burden
- Reduce the need for extensive expert coding of therapy sessions
- Minimize costs
- Provide feedback that clinicians and organizations can actually use to improve practice
What is the overarching goal behind making quality assessment more pragmatic?
The overarching goal is to move psychotherapy quality assessment from something mainly feasible in research studies to something that can be sustained in everyday mental health services.
Who is eligible to apply for this grant opportunity?
Eligibility is broad and includes (as listed in the opportunity information):
- State, county, and local governments
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories)
- For-profit organizations other than small businesses
- Small businesses
- Additional applicants as described in the opportunity materials
Why does the FOA include such broad eligibility?
The broad eligibility aligns with the practice-focused nature of the FOA, since community mental health systems and service organizations that deliver routine care may sit outside traditional academic settings.
What grant mechanism does this FOA use?
This FOA uses the NIH R01 grant mechanism.
What does the use of the R01 mechanism imply about the project type?
Based on the provided description, the R01 mechanism typically supports substantial, multi-year research projects that include both development and empirical testing.
When was this FOA posted?
The FOA was posted on February 26, 2016.
What was the closing date for this opportunity?
The closing date listed is June 8, 2016.
Does the provided listing state an award ceiling or the expected number of awards?
No. The provided information states that it does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards.
What outcomes is this FOA ultimately trying to support in mental health care?
Based on the description, the FOA is designed to support better mental health care by funding measurement approaches that make it easier to assess psychotherapy delivery quality in routine practice and to use that information for training, supervision, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
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