Research on Vulnerable Women, Children and Families

描述（由申请人提供）：我们提议对宾夕法尼亚大学护理学院（SON）的“促进弱势群体健康的研究培训”机构国家研究服务奖进行竞争性更新。我们将以前两个奖励期的成功为基础，包括：1)招募40%以上来自弱势群体的研究员；2)招聘合格的研究员担任所有职位；3)在SON的六个研究中心和整个大学内部整合研究员；4)对研究员进行教育，以提高他们在文化能力、理论基础和发展适当的干预方面的研究专长。我们正在提出一项扩大的研究培训计划，该计划基于与弱势妇女、儿童和家庭有关的健康差异决定因素的衍生生态模型。该项目建立在现有的SON科学家在社区参与性研究领域的成熟研究项目的基础上，并利用具有生物行为研究方法专业知识的科学家的加入。具体目标是培训护士科学家：1)研究导致弱势妇女、儿童和家庭健康差异的多系统层面因素；2)发展具有识别和减少健康差异潜力的前沿、文化适宜的跨学科研究策略方面的专业知识，特别关注生物行为、描述和干预方法；3)以相互指导的方式与不同群体的跨学科科学家、社区领袖和干预措施的预期受益者合作，促进弱势妇女、儿童和家庭的健康；4)发展价值观、批判性思维、沟通技巧和研究专长，解决弱势群体中造成、维持或扩大健康差距的权力差异。教职员工在生物行为、描述和干预研究方面有着悠久的历史和令人印象深刻的投资组合，这些研究显著增强了我们对弱势群体健康差异的理解。在这项为期五年的竞争性更新培训计划中，每年将支持4名博士预科生和4名博士后。培训完成后，他们将能够使用新的方法为弱势群体及其家庭的保健作出重大贡献。我们的目标是让这些受训者以可持续的方式为大批学者做出贡献，这些学者的研究方向将阐明、减少和消除弱势妇女、儿童和家庭的健康差距。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are proposing a competitive renewal of the Institutional National Research Service Award at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (SON) for "Research Training to Promote Health in Vulnerable Populations." We will build on the successes from our first two award periods that include: 1) recruitment of more than 40% of our fellows from under-represented minorities; 2) recruitment of qualified fellows to all positions; 3) integration of fellows within the six research centers at the SON and within the University at large; 4) education of fellows that increased their research expertise regarding culturally-competent, theoretically-based, and developmentally-appropriate interventions. We are proposing an expanded research- training program based on the Derived Ecological Model of Determinants of Health Disparities related to Vulnerable Women, Children, and Families. The program builds on the maturation of existing SON scientists with funded programs of research in the area of community participatory research and capitalizes on the addition of scientists with expertise in bio-behavioral methods of inquiry. Specific aims are to train nurse scientists to: 1) study multi-system level factors that contribute to health disparities among vulnerable women, children, and families; 2) develop expertise in cutting-edge, culturally-appropriate, interdisciplinary research strategies with the potential to identify and reduce health disparities, with a particular focus on bio-behavioral, descriptive, and intervention methods; 3) collaborate with a diverse group of interdisciplinary scientists, community leaders, and anticipated beneficiaries of interventions in a mutually instructive fashion to promote health in vulnerable women, children, and families; 4) develop values, critical thinking, communication skills, and research expertise that address the power differentials that create, sustain, or augment health disparities in vulnerable populations. Faculty members have a strong history and impressive portfolio of bio-behavioral, descriptive, and intervention studies that have significantly enhanced our understanding of health disparities in vulnerable populations. In this five-year competitive-renewal training program, four pre- and four post- doctoral trainees will be supported annually. When training is completed, they will be positioned to use novel methods to make significant contributions to the health care of vulnerable people and their families. Our goal is for these trainees to contribute in sustainable ways to a critical mass of scholars whose lines of inquiry will illuminate, reduce, and eliminate health disparities in vulnerable women, children, and families. RELEVANCE: Compelling evidence demonstrates that vulnerable populations have significant health problems. Trained scientists who can address these problems in novel ways are needed to eliminate health disparities.