Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties and Aging Research

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Abstract The mission of the University of Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties & Aging Research is to advance development of novel, principle-guided behavioral interventions that promote social connectedness for healthy aging. We focus on a highly vulnerable population: those who provide care for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia (ADRD). The long-term effects of caregiving on caregivers’ health are well-established. Caregivers are also vulnerable to social isolation, poor quality relations, and loneliness – i.e., social disconnectedness. Social disconnectedness is a critical determinant and indicator of health and well- being. Yet, among proximal health risks, social connectedness is a gravely understudied target of intervention that has potential for substantive impact on the health and well-being of caregivers. The University of Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties & Aging Research (the STAR Center), will achieve its mission through leadership and infrastructure that catalyzes multidisciplinary collaborations necessary to efficiently usher social connectedness intervention development along the continuum of the NIH Stage Model. Specifically, the STAR Center aims to: provide leadership and coalesce expertise to develop and advance social connectedness interventions; to stimulate novel clinical research and multidisciplinary collaborations to support development of mechanism-informed, effective behavioral interventions that promote social connectedness in caregivers of a family member with dementia; and to provide solid, supportive infrastructure that fosters scientific productivity among STAR Center investigators to achieve its mission.