Delivering Effective Primary Care to Older Adults

描述（由申请人提供）：Phelan博士的长期目标是成为提高老年人保健服务质量，特别是初级保健质量的领导者。迄今为止，她的研究结合了她对健康促进、卫生保健质量和弱势群体的兴趣，并涉及调查方法和对现有数据的分析。在此K23奖期间，她将遵循一个研究和培训计划，以确保她将拥有作为独立研究者进行患者研究的技能和经验。她的研究和培训将由爱德华·h·瓦格纳博士监督。Itamar B. Abrass博士将提供老年医学专业知识和学术生涯指导。合作者/顾问将包括Andrea Z. LaCroix博士和Eric B. Larson博士；James P. LoGerfo将担任顾问。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr Phelan aims in the long-term to become a leader in improving the quality of health services, particularly primary care, for the elderly. Her research to date has combined her interests in health promotion, health care quality, and vulnerable populations and has involved survey methods and analyses of existing data. During the period of this K23 award, she will follow a program of research and training to ensure that she will possess both the skills and the experience to conduct patient orionred research as an independent investigator. Her research and training will be overseen by Dr Edward H. Wagner. Geriatric expertise and academic career guidance will be provided by Dr Itamar B. Abrass. Collaborators/advisors will include Drs Andrea Z. LaCroix and Eric B. Larson; James P. LoGerfo will serve as an advisor. Preserving function and independence is an important health outcome in the care of older adults. Individual (patient) risk factors for functional decline have been intensely studied, as have focused interventions for specific risk factors. However, little is known about the effects of provider practice or practice design features on the functional status of older adults. The proposed research will address these questions. The specific aims are: 1) to evaluate the effect of provider practice style on patient functional status and 2) to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of integrating a geriatric care team into outpatient, primary care. The proposed projects will be led by the candidate under the supervision of her Sponsor, Dr Wagner. These investigations should contribute new insights into improving primary care of older adults in order to promote continued independent functioning. By permitting Dr Phelan to 1) obtain formal training in advanced epidemiologic and statistical techniques and 2) take a lead role in the conduct of a randomizod trial of a new model of care for primary care settings, the Mentored Patient Orionted Research Career Development Award will enable her to meet her 5-year goal of achieving independent investigator status and move her toward her Iong-term, career goal described above.