Cornell Roybal Center-Translational Research Institute on Pain in Lather Life

项目摘要-整体

Project Summary – Overall Over the past 5 years, Cornell’s Roybal Center–The Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL) has developed innovative approaches and an effective infrastructure for the translation of behavioral and social science research to improve the health and well-being of older adults. A major strength of TRIPLL is its demonstrated ability to link behavioral and social science research to real world contexts. TRIPLL has focused on developing behavioral interventions and on leveraging new technologies that can bring about adaptive behavior change in the context of pain, an issue characterized by the Institute of Medicine as a critically important and under-addressed public health problem. In this renewal application, we will build on our accomplishments to date by measurably expanding the infrastructure of the Center to augment the development of potent and scalable behavioral interventions for pain, with a particular focus on conducting this research with underrepresented populations, i.e., older persons with cognitive impairment, minority elders, rural-dwelling older adults, and those aging with HIV.!This focus is justified because pain is highly prevalent, costly, and frequently disabling in older adults, particularly among underrepresented populations. Behavioral interventions (e.g., psychological and exercise therapies) are now routinely encouraged as primary treatments for pain, but research is needed to enhance their efficacy, effectiveness and long-term benefits. Cornell’s Roybal Center will build on prior successes by: 1) opening new mentee pipelines; 2) expanding networks of researchers, commercial entities and community stakeholders to support the translation of Center-supported research; and 3) leveraging advances in the fields of behavior change science and communication science to develop and test innovative behavioral interventions using the NIH Stage Model to guide their development and evaluation. The overarching aims of Cornell’s Roybal Center will be to: 1) Develop potent and scalable behavioral interventions to address the problem of later-life pain; 2) Conduct a vibrant investigator development program; 3) Provide an effective infrastructure for developing behavioral interventions using new technologies that can enhance intervention effects; and 4) Leverage the intellectual, fiscal, and other resources of the academic collaborators in this application, thereby achieving results that would not be attainable by any one institution. The expanded multi-disciplinary collaboration among prominent research centers in Ithaca and New York City (NYC), including Weill Cornell and Cornell Tech along with three new strategic partners (the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement, the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation, and the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research), constitutes a major strength of this renewal application.