NRC: Improving Healthcare for Cognitively Impaired Elders and Their Caregivers

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of the Northwest Roybal Center (NRC) is to improve the health, well being, quality of life and productivity of older adults with cognitive impairment, midlife and older adults at risk for cognitive impairment, and their caregivers through the translation of basic behavioral and social sciences research. The NRC focuses on the systematic and strategic translation of well-researched methods of assessment and evidence-based interventions along the full continuum of environments in which older adults reside and receive care (including private homes, retirement communities, assisted living residences, adult family homes and skilled nursing facilities.) The NRC will capitalize on unique yet well-established strengths: the NWRGA, a collaborative team of interdisciplinary researchers with 20+ years of NIH-funded community based research; the UW School of Nursing (SoN), ranked #1 for research in the U.S; the Group Health Cooperative-Center for Health Studies, part of the largest HMO in the U.S.; and the ITHS, an NIH-funded CTSA "collaboratory" of researchers throughout the five-state area of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The aims of the NRC - through its Management and Administrative Core and Pilot Core - are to: 1) Develop and maintain an infrastructure that supports and sustains translational research to achieve the NRC mission. 2) Provide administrative, financial, technical, and scholariy support to pilot studies that develop, implement, and evaluate promising social and behavioral research findings to achieve the NRC mission along the full continuum of environments in which adults reside and receive care (e.g., private homes, retirement communities, assisted-living residences, adult family homes, and skilled nursing facilities). 3) Enhance and maintain strong interdisciplinary and interagency partnerships among researchers, practitioners, and consumers to insure that promising avenues of research are translated into the community expeditiously and effectively over the course of the NRC's lifecycle. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The NRC will address one of the most important health problems of our time: enhancing the health, wellbeing, and productivity, of older adults with cognitive impairment, midlife or older adults at risk for cognitive impairment, and their caregivers, through the strategic translation of well-researched methods of assessment and evidence-based interventions to broad-based community settings, including the full continuum of care and environments in which older adults reside and receive care.