Training Geriatric Mental Health Services Researchers

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposed multi-site postdoctoral training program (T32) in geriatric mental health services research is a collaborative project among senior geriatric mental health services researchers located at Dartmouth College, Cornell University and the University of Washington. This multi-site Services Research Training Cooperative (SRTC) is designed to train a total of 12 postdoctoral fellows over the five year funding period for academic careers in geriatric mental health services research. The program will recruit fellows (one per site per year for the first four years) with a completed doctoral degree in medicine, psychology, social work, sociology, epidemiology, public health, health economics, or a related-social science for a minimum of a two year fellowship. The two-year training program for each fellow will include the following components: (a) mentored geriatric mental health services research training including the design and completion of a research project; (b) cross-site seminars, research presentations, and training curriculum made possible by an NIMH SBIR-funded project providing videoconferencing and internet-based communication and curriculum capability; and (c) formal coursework at each site including the opportunity for a master's degree in public health or master's of science in evaluative health sciences and health services research. The proposed fellowship program will quickly and efficiently develop a new generation of early career investigators in the field of geriatric mental health services research, substantively adding to the capacity of a field that currently has few full-time researchers. This initiative responds to an urgent need for research aimed at informing the future systems of care that will be needed to address the mental health needs of a rapidly growing older population and the unique challenges related both to biological, psychological, and social changes associated with aging and to the societal approach to providing care for the aged.