Effectiveness and Implementation Research for Post-Acute Interventions to Optimize Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (R34 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 23 140

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 23 140

This funding opportunity, titled "Effectiveness and Implementation Research for Post-Acute Interventions to Optimize Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)," is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program focused on strengthening long-term mental health care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and other low-resource settings. The emphasis is specifically on the post-acute phase of mental health conditions, meaning the longer-term or chronic management that comes after an initial crisis, diagnosis, or short-term treatment window. The central idea is to support research that shows what works in real-world settings (effectiveness research) and, just as importantly, how to make those services actually available, usable, and sustainable within the constraints of local health systems (implementation science). The mechanism is an R34, which is commonly used as a planning and preliminary studies award to build and test key components needed for a larger, later-stage effectiveness or implementation trial, and clinical trials are optional under this announcement.

The core purpose of the FOA is to push beyond simply proving that an intervention can work and instead generate practical, actionable evidence about how post-acute mental health services can be delivered at scale in settings where resources, workforce capacity, financing, and infrastructure may be limited. Proposed projects are expected to develop novel and innovative implementation research approaches that improve both availability (whether services exist and can be offered) and accessibility (whether people can realistically reach, afford, and use them over time). The announcement highlights that successful applications should explicitly examine different health system arrangements and use that information to identify modifiable restrictions in the supply of post-acute services. In other words, applicants should look closely at how care is organized and financed, how staff and programs are deployed, where bottlenecks occur, and which barriers can realistically be changed through program design or policy action. The FOA also signals interest in policy-relevant findings, including potential policy interventions that could shift current practices or structures that keep long-term care out of reach.

From a scope standpoint, this opportunity is oriented toward the real-world delivery environment: how clinics, community programs, referral networks, and broader health and social systems support (or fail to support) people living with ongoing mental health needs. While the FOA summary does not list specific disorders or intervention types, the framing around post-acute management implies attention to continuity of care, long-term follow-up, relapse prevention, maintenance treatment, service integration, patient retention, and other strategies that help people maintain recovery or stability over time. Because it is implementation-focused, competitive projects would typically be expected to include strong measurement of service delivery outcomes (for example, reach, adoption, fidelity, feasibility, acceptability, cost considerations, and sustainability), alongside patient-level outcomes tied to long-term mental health and functioning. The overall direction is to produce evidence that health systems and decision-makers can use to remove barriers, expand service supply, and improve long-run outcomes for patients in LMIC contexts.

Administrative details from the source information indicate the opportunity number is RFA-MH-23-140, under the NIH, with a grants funding instrument and a health funding activity category (CFDA 93.242). The original closing date listed is 2023-06-21, and the record creation date is 2023-03-21. The award ceiling shown is $450,000. The expected number of awards is not specified in the provided data.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based and non-U.S. organizations. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; 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; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other entities. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Indian/Native American Tribal Governments that are not federally recognized, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), U.S. territories or possessions, eligible federal government agencies, regional organizations, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities/foreign organizations. This broad eligibility aligns with the global and systems-oriented nature of the work, where partnerships between research institutions, service providers, governments, and community organizations are often necessary to study and improve long-term mental health service delivery in low-resource settings.

Overall, this FOA is designed for teams that want to tackle the practical, on-the-ground problem of how to deliver sustained mental health care after the acute phase, especially where health systems face staffing shortages, uneven service distribution, limited funding, and structural barriers to continuity of care. The most responsive proposals are likely to be those that combine rigorous effectiveness questions with implementation strategies, directly map and analyze health system constraints, identify changeable supply-side restrictions, and test approaches that could realistically be adopted or supported through programmatic or policy shifts in LMIC settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Effectiveness and Implementation Research for Post-Acute Interventions to Optimize Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)" 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 2023-03-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-21. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $450,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for RFA MH 23 140

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