Positively Aging: Maximizing the Healthspan

个人描述(申请人提供)：每个人都希望尽可能长时间地过着健康的生活，没有疾病和残疾。最佳功能时期被称为“健康寿命”，是每个人寿命的一个子集。获得和保持健康的生活从童年就开始了，学生们必须学习关于习惯和选择的科学证据，这些习惯和选择增加了他们在一生中保持身体和精神独立的机会。这个第一阶段和第二阶段的SEPA应用程序将创建、评估和传播以衰老生物学和动态平衡和异常态的科学过程为中心的新教材，教导学生如何最大化健康跨度。通过对照研究、科学态度量表的严格心理测量重新评估和教师观察，我们的团队开发了新的证据，并准备测试一项以最大化健康跨度为重点的密集创新教师专业发展计划。这项建议的核心内容利用NIH资助的老年学基础、翻译和面向患者的临床研究的信息来创建新的基于探究的健康促进课程，有效地在中学水平上教授科学、数学和健康原理。该提案将利用这些材料进行教师专业发展的受控试验，并评估教师对学生科学态度的影响。我们不断创新的跨学科合作伙伴关系为德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥健康科学中心(UTHSCSA)Barshop长寿和老龄化研究所的科学家与来自德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥多个校区的中学教育工作者牵线搭桥。这些地区主要服务于经济上处于不利地位的墨西哥裔美国人。这一合作伙伴关系将制作免费提供的课堂教学材料，满足SEPA的目标，以(A)提高公立学校的数学和科学教育质量，以及(B)促进对降低疾病风险的行为的理解。为了实现这一目标，我们设定了四个具体目标：(目标A)基于NIH资助的关于衰老、动态平衡、异位平衡的生物学以及优化健康生活的数量和质量的研究，开发新的教育材料；(目标B)以最大化健康寿命为内容，利用我们的教育伙伴关系创建和评估一个密集的、新颖的、多维的模型，定性和定量地评估中学教师的专业发展；(目标C)进行受控评估，以评估积极老龄化(R)教师专业发展计划在改变学生对科学的态度方面的有效性，其衡量标准是两个新重新评估和缩短的态度量表：女性科学工作者量表(WISS-R)和辛普森-特罗斯特态度问卷修订(STAQ-R)；以及(目标D)通过积极老龄化(R)网站、教师工作坊、教育和科学会议上的演讲、同行评议期刊上的出版物以及国家临床和翻译科学奖联盟的社区参与来传播课程。 公共健康相关性(由申请者提供)：这项积极老龄化(R)提案将通过向学生传授新的健康信息，以延长和改善他们的生活，从而改善6-8年级的科学、数学和健康教育。 由积极老龄化(R)团队创建的一项新颖的科学教师专业发展计划将努力提高教师的知识、技能和自信水平，最终影响他们的学生。 此外，这项建议旨在改善学生对科学的态度，这可能会促进对科学、研究和医学的职业兴趣。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Everyone desires to live a healthy life, free of disease and disability, for as long as possible. The period of optimal functioning is termed the 'healthspan,' and is a subset of each human's lifespan. Attaining and maintaining a healthy life starts in childhood and students must learn the scientific evidence for habits and choices that increase their chances of sustaining physical and mental independence throughout their lives. This Phase I and II SEPA application will create, evaluate, and disseminate novel teaching materials centered on the biology of aging and the scientific processes of homeostasis and allostasis to teach students about Maximizing the Healthspan. Through controlled studies, rigorous psychometric re-evaluations of science attitude instruments, and teacher observations, our team developed new evidence and is poised to test an intensive innovative Teacher Professional Development program with Maximizing the Healthspan as the gerontology focus. The core content of this proposal utilizes information from NIH-funded gerontologic basic, translational, and patient-oriented clinical research to create novel inquiry-based health promotion lessons that effectively teach science, math, and health principles at the middle school level. The proposal will utilize these materials in a controlled trial of teacher professional development and evaluate the impact the teachers have on student attitudes toward science. Our continually innovating interdisciplinary partnership matches Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) with middle school educators from multiple school districts in San Antonio, TX. These districts serve predominantly economically disadvantaged Mexican-American populations. This partnership will produce freely available classroom-ready instructional materials that meet SEPA goals to (a) improve math and science education quality in public schools, and (b) promote understandings of behavior that reduce disease risk. To accomplish this, we set four specific aims: (Aim A) Develop new educational materials based on NIH-funded research on the biology of aging, homeostasis, allostasis, and optimizing the quantity and quality of healthy life; (Aim B) With Maximizing the Healthspan as content, utilize our educational partnerships to create and evaluate an intensive, novel, multi-dimensional model that qualitatively and quantitatively assesses middle school teacher professional development; (Aim C) Conduct a controlled evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the Positively Aging(r) teacher professional development program on changing students' attitudes toward science as measured by two newly re-evaluated and shortened attitude scales: the Women in Science Scale-Revised (WiSS-R) and the Simpson-Troost Attitude Questionnaire-Revised (STAQ-R); and (Aim D) Disseminate the curriculum through the Positively Aging(r) website, teacher workshops, presentations at educational and scientific meetings, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and community engagement through the national Clinical and Translational Science Award consortium. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE (provided by applicant): This Positively Aging(r) proposal will improve science, math, and health education in grades 6-8 by teaching students new health information, based on current NIH supported research, to extend and improve their lives. A novel science teacher professional development program, created by the Positively Aging(r) team, will strive to improve teachers' knowledge, skills, and confidence levels, ultimately affecting their students. In addition, this proposal seeks to improve students' attitudes toward science which may promote career interest in science, research, and medicine.