Training in Gerontological Health Services Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests a "Complementary Training Award for Research on Aging" to support pre-doctoral students enrolled in a Gerontology and Long-Term Care Track leading to a Ph.D. degree in Health Policy and Management. The proposed Training Grant will complement an existing "Training in Health Services Research" grant (T32, HS00029, PI: J. Weiner) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Capitalizing on the momentum of a strong, productive, 16-year old HSR training program, this new initiative will help to prepare the next generation of gerontologists who will seek new knowledge of health services that will be needed to meet the challenges of providing high-quality, cost-effective health care for the burgeoning population of older Americans. The specific aims are: 1. To help recruit diverse, highly qualified pre-doctoral students to the field of gerontologic health services research (GHSR), specifically, to the Gerontology and Long-Term Care Track of the HSR doctoral curriculum offered by the Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM) of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 2. To support matriculants into this Track throughout two years of interdisciplinary training in GHSR that prepares them to conduct creative and rigorous research designed to catalyze improvements in the quality and cost-effectiveness of our system of health care for older people. Students will acquire firm groundings in the scientific theory and methods of HSR as applied to the health care of older populations. They will study the epidemiology, demography, and biology of aging, as well as the continuum of health care that older people often experience. They will participate in regular seminars, national scientific meetings, clinical practicums, and intensely mentored research experiences. 3. To increase the number of graduates who earn the HPM Department's Ph.D. degree in HSR and the School's Certificate in Gerontology, then lead productive careers in GHSR that lead to improvements in the quality, costs and outcomes of care. This program will be conducted by 12 core and eight affiliated faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding sustained commitment, expertise, and productivity in education and research in GHSR.