Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core

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Project Summary – Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core (OREC) The OREC of the Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (IADRC) plays a key role in achieving the goals of the IADRC through its community outreach and recruitment activities. It also serves as an educational resource on AD and related dementias for healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, and family members living in Indiana, neighboring regions, and beyond. As increasing numbers of older adults experience late life cognitive impairment and associated challenges, outreach in our local and statewide community is crucial to inform them and their families about the importance of early diagnosis, available treatment and management options, and the critically important role of participating in research at the IADRC. The OREC has developed numerous important relationships with health professionals and aging-related organizations throughout the state, which increase the visibility and reach of our programs. The IADRC and the OREC have had great success in increasing research participation in the African American community and other underrepresented participant groups who are or may be at higher risk for AD and related dementias. The IADRC understands the importance of building rapport and trusting relationships with community members, health care and social service providers. The OREC will build on its successfully developed foundation of community-based collaboration over the past 30 years. The OREC has three overall goals: Outreach--to promote the understanding of brain health and neurodegenerating diseases in Indiana, neighboring regions and beyond; Recruitment--to facilitate recruitment of research participants to the IADRC and related research studies; and Retention—to retain research participants in the IADRC and related research studies. Our outreach programs greatly impact the increasing awareness of dementing disorders, which in turn, increase the likelihood of participation in the IADRC, providing support to the National Alzheimer’s Plan Act (NAPA) goal of preventing and effectively treating AD by 2025.