ENHANCING INFORMED CONSENT IN LATE-LIFE PSYCHOSIS

描述（由申请人提供）：这个为期五年的培训奖项的目标是进一步Laura Dunn博士作为老年精神病学研究人员的发展，重点是精神病学研究伦理，特别是改善患有精神分裂症或相关疾病的老年人研究的知情同意的实证研究。职业发展计划将建立在Dunn博士在精神病学和老年精神病学方面的临床背景，以及她在精神病学研究伦理方面的研究背景之上。2001年6月，邓恩博士在加州大学圣地亚哥分校完成了她的精神病住院医师实习期。她目前是加州大学圣地亚哥分校老年精神病学临床研究员。她撰写或合作撰写了14篇已发表或出版的文章，并在全国会议上发表了6篇摘要。职业发展计划的首要目标是使邓恩博士成为老年精神病学和精神病学研究伦理方面的独立研究者。具体培养目标为：1)具备扎实的生物医学伦理学知识基础，注重老年精神病学研究和干预研究中的伦理问题；2)实验设计，规模开发，定量和定性数据分析方法的课程和咨询；3)理解在设计、实施、分析和报告干预试验（包括精神药理学和社会心理）中出现的程序、哲学和伦理问题；4)提高研究参与者知情同意决策能力的实证研究；5)根据拟议研究的结果和提出的问题，制定旨在加强研究和治疗的知情同意和决策过程的进一步干预措施；6)向精神病学和其他生物医学领域的研究人员传播研究成果。该计划包括生物伦理学、老年精神病学、精神分裂症研究、精神病学研究伦理和干预研究等领域的结构化课程和专家咨询。Dunn博士的第一手研究培训将包括实施一项随机试验，研究增强同意程序对中老年（50岁）精神分裂症或分裂情感障碍患者研究决策能力的影响。决策能力与精神病理和认知功能的关系将被检查，并将探讨有关参与者对研究的态度和经验的定性信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this five-year training award is to further Dr. Laura Dunn's development as a geriatric psychiatry researcher, with a focus on psychiatric research ethics, specifically the empirical study of improving informed consent for research in older persons with schizophrenia or related disorders. The career development plan will build on Dr. Dunn's clinical background in psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, and on her research background in psychiatric research ethics. In June 2001, Dr. Dunn completed her psychiatric residency at University of California, San Diego. She is currently a clinical fellow in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSD. She has authored or co-authored a total of 14 articles that are published or in press, and she has presented six abstracts at national meetings. The overriding goal of the career development plan is to enable Dr. Dunn to become an independent investigator in geriatric psychiatry and psychiatric research ethics. The specific training targets are as follows: 1) attainment of a solid knowledge base in biomedical ethics, emphasizing ethical issues in geriatric psychiatry research and intervention studies; 2) coursework and consultation in experimental design, scale development, and quantitative and qualitative data analytic methods; 3) understanding of procedural, philosophical, and ethical issues arising in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of intervention trials (both psychopharmacologic and psychosocial); 4) empirical study of methods to enhance research participants' decisional abilities relevant for informed consent; 5) development, based on results and questions raised by the proposed study, of further interventions designed to enhance informed consent and decision-making processes for both research and treatment; and 6) dissemination of research findings to investigators in psychiatry and other biomedical fields. The plan includes structured coursework and consultation with experts in the fields of bioethics, geriatric psychiatry, schizophrenia research, psychiatric research ethics, and intervention studies. Dr. Dunn's firsthand research training will involve the implementation of a randomized trial of the effects of an enhanced consent procedure on decision-making capacity for research in middle-aged and older (>/= 50 years old) patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The relationship of decisional abilities to psychopathology and cognitive functioning will be examined, and qualitative information about participants' attitudes toward and experience with research will be explored.