Living Alone in Older Age with Cognitive Impairment

 描述（由申请人提供）：老年人独自生活与认知障碍这个K 01奖的申请人是博士埃琳娜Portacolone，社会学助理教授在加州大学，旧金山弗朗西斯科。Portacolone博士的长期职业目标是建立一个跨学科的研究计划，重点是健康，福祉和老年人的社会融合独居（OALA）与认知障碍。在之前的研究中，申请人提高了对OALA面临的独特挑战的认识。这个K 01奖将使博士Portacolone显着扩大她的研究和方法的范围。Portacolone博士寻求K 01奖的支持，以扩大对认知障碍的OALA的知识体系。这一最初的研究方向是由OALA中认知障碍的高患病率和显著证据驱动的，这些证据表明，患有认知障碍的老年人独自生活可能导致健康状况不佳。Portacolone寻求K 01奖的支持，以发展认知障碍，道德，研究和分析的先进定性方法以及学术发展的其他方面的技能和知识。这些范畴的训练有助申请人达致以下特定研究目的：1）详细研究认知受损长者生活津贴持有人的独居经验; 2）了解这些人士与其支援网络的关系; 3）了解认知障碍OALA患者的决策能力，并探讨其决策能力与日常生活经验的关系。一个人生活时的决定。为了实现这些目标，Portacolone博士将使用先进的定性研究分析方法，因为它们是最适合在假设生成不成熟的未探索领域扩展知识体系的方法。Portacolone博士将招募90名OALA，30名诊断为阿尔茨海默病（AD），30名诊断为轻度认知障碍（MCI），30名认知健康的OALA作为对照组。OALA将从加州大学旧金山分校的诊所以及当地组织招募。对于每一个有MCI或AD的OALA，申请人将寻求招募和面试一名线人。数据将包括通过人种学访谈引出的个人叙述。这些访谈将辅以参与者的观察和对标准量化措施数据的解释。将使用下文描述的高级定性分析方法分析定性数据。这项创新研究将建立文化敏感的临床干预措施的知识，以（1）提高对那些诊断为认知障碍的独居者的理解，（2）确定潜在的策略，提高认知障碍OALA的生活质量。从这项研究中获得的知识和经验将使Portacolone博士能够在高影响力的期刊上发表重要论文，并准备有竞争力的R 01应用程序，以解决认知障碍OALA干预的可能点。这项更大规模调查的具体设计将由 为K 01奖进行的研究项目的结果。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Living Alone in Older Age with Cognitive Impairment The applicant for this K01 award is Dr. Elena Portacolone, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Portacolone's long-term career goal is to establish an interdisciplinary research program that is focused on the health, well-being, and social integration of older adults living alone (OALA) with cognitive impairment. In prior research, the applicant raised awareness of the unique challenges faced by OALA. This K01 award will allow Dr. Portacolone to significantly extend the scope of her research and methodological approaches. Dr. Portacolone seeks the support of a K01 award to expand the body of knowledge on OALA with cognitive impairment. This original research direction is driven by the high prevalence of cognitive impairment in OALA and significant evidence suggesting that living alone in older age with cognitive impairment may lead to poor health outcomes. To conduct her research program, Dr. Portacolone seeks the support of a K01 award to develop skills and knowledge in cognitive impairment, ethics, advanced qualitative methods of research and analysis, and other aspects of academic development. Training in these areas will enable the applicant to accomplish the following specific research aims: 1) to examine in detail the experience of living alone as an OALA with cognitive impairment; 2) to understand the relationships between these individuals and their support networks; and 3) to understand the decision-making ability of OALA with cognitive impairment and explore how this ability relates to their experience of day-to-day decisions when living alone. To achieve these aims, Dr. Portacolone will use advanced qualitative methods of research analysis, as they are the most appropriate to expand the body of knowledge on unexplored areas where hypothesis generation is premature. Dr. Portacolone will recruit 90 OALA, 30 with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), 30 with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 30 cognitively healthy OALA as control group. OALA will be recruited from clinics at UCSF as well as from local organizations. For each OALA with MCI or AD, the applicant will seek to recruit and interview one informant. Data will consist of personal narratives elicited through ethnographic interviews. These interviews will be supplemented with participant observation and interpretation of data from standard quantitative measures. Qualitative data will be analyzed using advanced methods of qualitative analysis described below. This innovative study will build knowledge of culturally-sensitive clinical interventions to (1) improve understanding of those with the diagnosis of cognitive impairment living alone and (2) identify potential strategies that will increase the qualty of life of OALA with cognitive impairment. The knowledge and experience gained from this research will allow Dr. Portacolone to develop significant publications in high-impact journals and prepare a competitive R01 application to address possible points of interventions for OALA with cognitive impairment. The specific design of this larger investigation will be informed by the findings of the research project undertaken for the K01 award.