Increasing Aging Research by Social Work Faculty

描述(由申请人提供)：本次续签申请寻求NIA的部分支持，以提供15名社会工作教师的研究培训计划。申请的赠款将得到哈特福德基金会通过与美国老年学会的联系批准的70000美元承付款的补充。拟议的计划建立在2004年以来为社会工作人员提供的非常成功的研究培训计划的基础上。总体目标保持不变：扩大从事老龄化研究的社会工作教员队伍。这将为他们的教学注入新的活力，为他们更新课程中与老龄化有关的内容做好准备，并增强他们的能力，以激励新一代社会工作专业的学生继续学习老龄化。具体目标包括：(1)增加社会工作教师的知识、技能和动机，以追求积极的老龄研究计划；(2)为参与者提供与高级调查人员深入互动的机会，并促进现任和以前参与者之间网络关系的发展；以及(3)提高参与者对NIH提供的拨款支持以及如何开发和提交强有力的申请的认识。在2004年至2008年期间参加社会工作计划的人中，超过56%的人已经获得了研究资金，这一事实证明了这种培训模式的成功。此外，来自NIA资助的早期心理研究所的30%的参与者已经获得了NIA/NIH的资助，另外50%的参与者已经从其他来源获得了资助。所有拟议的活动都将涉及与美国老年学会、约翰·A·哈特福德基金会、社会工作和研究学会、社会工作教育理事会、哈特福德老年丰富计划、社会工作研究所和全国社会工作者协会继续密切合作。研究所的主题和导师包括：研究设计、测量和分析(Aloen Townsend)、干预措施评估(Susan Hughes)、护理和残疾(Martha Seltzer)、种族与老龄化(Keith Whitfield)、准备补助金申请(Chandra Mehrotra)、为老龄化研究提供的NIA支持(NIA工作人员)以及以电子方式提交补助金申请(Chandra Mehrotra和Aloen Townsend)。鉴于该计划迄今成功地实现了40%的少数族裔参与，招聘工作将继续侧重于吸引来自不同民族和种族背景的参与者以及残疾人。将进行定量和定性的方案评估，以监测拟议活动的实施情况，并评估其在实现预期结果方面的有效性。项目教职员工和参与者将通过会议演示、出版物和网站传播NIA支持的活动。本着翻译研究的精神，重点将是与与老年人及其家人一起工作的卫生和社会服务专业人员分享研究结果及其影响。反过来，这将提高老年人的健康状况，特别是那些来自服务不足人群的老年人。 与公共卫生相关：社会工作专业在与不同层次的护理和服务系统合作以及在跨学科团队的背景下和在与不同人群的直接实践中合作方面，积累了重要的临床专业知识。拟议的研究培训计划将刺激社会工作教师及其学生进行实证性研究，旨在提高这些干预措施的效率和有效性，以优化老年人的健康结果。此外，参与者将广泛传播他们的研究成果，从而为改善老年人，特别是过去得不到充分服务的老年人的健康状况作出独特和重要的贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This renewal application seeks partial support from NIA to offer a research training program for 15 social work faculty. The requested grant will be supplemented by a $70,000 commitment that has been approved by the Hartford Foundation through a liaison with the Gerontological Society of America. The proposed program builds upon a highly successful research training program for social work faculty offered since 2004. The overarching goal remains the same: to expand the pool of social work faculty engaged in aging research. This, in turn, will reinvigorate their teaching, prepare them to update aging-related content in the curriculum, and enhance their ability to motivate new generations of social work students to pursue the study of aging. Specific aims include: (1) To increase social work faculty's knowledge, skills, and motivation for pursuing an active program of aging research; (2) To provide participants an opportunity to interact intensively with senior investigators and to promote the development of networking relationships among current and prior participants; and (3) To increase participants' awareness of grant support available from NIH and how to develop and submit strong applications. The success of this training model is documented by the fact that more than 56 percent of those who participated in the social work program between 2004 and 2008 have already secured research funding. Moreover, 30 percent of the participants from an earlier NIA-funded psychology institute have secured NIA/NIH funding and an additional 50 percent have received grants from other sources. All of the proposed activities will involve continuing strong collaboration with the Gerontological Society of America, John A. Hartford Foundation, Society for Social Work and Research, Council for Social Work Education, The Hartford Geriatric Enrichment Program, Institute for Advancement of Social Work Research, and National Association of Social Workers. Institute topics and instructors include: Research Design, Measurement, and Analysis (Aloen Townsend), Evaluation of Interventions (Susan Hughes), Caregiving and Disabilities (Marsha Seltzer), Ethnicity and Aging (Keith Whitfield), Preparing Grant Applications (Chandra Mehrotra), NIA Support Available for Aging Research (NIA staff), and Submitting Grant Applications Electronically (Chandra Mehrotra and Aloen Townsend). Given the program's success in achieving 40 percent minority participation to date, recruitment efforts will continue to focus on attracting participants from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds and those with disabilities. Quantitative and qualitative program evaluation will be conducted to monitor implementation of proposed activities and to assess their effectiveness in achieving the intended outcomes. Program faculty and participants will disseminate NIA-supported activities via conference presentations, publications, and websites. In the spirit of translational research, the focus will be on sharing research findings and their implications with health and social service professionals who work with older adults and their families. This, in turn, will enhance the health status of older adults, especially those from underserved populations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The social work profession has developed significant clinical expertise in working with and across systems of care and services on a variety of levels in the context of interdisciplinary teams and in direct practice with diverse populations. The proposed research training program will stimulate social work faculty and their students to undertake empirical research aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions to optimize health outcomes for older adults. In addition, the participants will conduct widespread dissemination of their research findings, thereby making a unique and important contribution to improving the health status of older adults, especially those underserved in the past.