The Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): UCLA/Drew Center for Health Improvement for Minority Elders (CHIME) proposes continuation of a research and mentoring program initially funded in Fall 2002, that will contribute to the reduction in health disparities affecting African American and Latino Elders by training and mentorship of minority faculty who will advance their careers by conducting research on minority elders. To accomplish this goal, CHIME has 5 over-arching specific aims: 1) to develop the research infrastructure needed to improve the health of minority elders through participatory research within local communities; 2) to assist pilot investigators to develop and/or evaluate epidemiological, behavioral, or social measurement tools for use in culturally diverse elderly populations, including populations with limited English proficiency and low health literacy; 3) to support pilot studies that use NIA funded and other datasets to study the social, behavioral, medical, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to health disparities for minority elders; 4) to build on UCLA's and Drew's longstanding track record for the recruitment, retention, and promotion of minority researchers through mentorship and support of their efforts to conduct research on the health of minority elders and to participate in community collaborations designed to improve health; 5) to broaden and stabilize both existing and new partnerships with communities to expand the pool of African American and Latino elders who are participants in research and the beneficiaries of the findings from both the research conducted under the auspices of CHIME and other funded research. CHIME proposes to address these aims through structured activities that are organized in an Administration Core (AC), an Investigator Development Core (IDC), a Measurement Core (MC), and a Coordinating Center (CC). The Administrative and Investigator Development Cores will select pilot studies, organize the mentorship of pilot investigators, teach faculty mentees how to conduct community participatory research, and develop the needed community collaborations to recruit participants; the Measurement Core will provide methodological support and training for pilot investigators; the Coordinating Center will complete all specific aims and tasks outlined for the National Coordinating Center.