Community Liaison and Recruitment Core (CLRC)

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Although minority populations – particularly Black and Latino adults – have the highest rates and are at highest risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), to date inclusion of these populations (patients, care partners and dyads) in ADRD research remains low and inconsistent. Testable, scalable methods are urgently needed, founded on a science of ADRD diversity to drive quantifiable, precision approaches in recruitment, engagement, and retention (RER). Community engagement and study enrollment barriers, already multi-factorial, are compounded for Black and Latino populations, limiting researchers’ ability to address health disparities in ADRD. Without critical developments in RER science, investigators risk exacerbating – or worse, misunderstanding – existing health disparities in ADRD and ADRD research by failing to include Black and Latino communities in cutting-edge ADRD behavioral health research. The Community Liaison & Recruitment Core (CLRC) activities are directly aligned with the Mass-ENVISION theme to provide resources, training, and sustained and tailored mentoring to UiM scientists in ADRD-related behavioral interventions following the NIH Stage Model, the NIA Health Disparities Framework, and the CDC and NAM prevention frameworks, in both community and hospital settings. The CLRC will advance the science of diversity in ADRD behavioral interventions research via 4 Specific Aims: 1) Operationalize a precision science of diverse recruitment, engagement, and retention into ADRD research; 2) Convene a stakeholder group of Black and Latino individuals to determine optimal recruitment and engagement strategies for these populations in ADRD behavioral interventions research; 3) Provide RCMAR Scientists with practical examples of RER strategies in a separately funded digitized trial to be launched at Whittier Street Health Center, a local Federally Qualified Health Center; 4) Train and provide sustained and tailored mentoring of RCMAR Scientists in a community-engaged science of recruitment, engagement, and retention. The CLRC is led by Dr. Jonathan Jackson, an expert in ADRD and methods for recruitment, engagement and retention of minority populations in research. The CLRC will foster crosspollination of resources with the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Research Center (MADRC) and Boston University Alzheimer’s Research Center (BU-ADRC) and will establish and grow community collaborations across the Massachusetts and larger New England areas.