ENHANCING INFORMED CONSENT IN LATE-LIFE PSYCHOSIS

描述(由申请者提供)：这个为期五年的培训奖项的目标是促进劳拉·邓恩博士作为老年精神病学研究人员的发展，重点是精神病学研究伦理，特别是关于改善患有精神分裂症或相关障碍的老年人对研究的知情同意的实证研究。职业发展计划将基于邓恩博士在精神病学和老年精神病学方面的临床背景，以及她在精神病学研究伦理学方面的研究背景。2001年6月，邓恩博士完成了她在加州大学圣地亚哥分校的精神病学实习。她目前是加州大学圣地亚哥分校老年精神病学的临床研究员。她共撰写或合著了14篇发表或出版的文章，并在全国会议上提交了6篇摘要。职业发展计划的首要目标是让邓恩博士成为老年精神病学和精神病学研究伦理方面的独立研究员。具体的培训目标如下：1)获得坚实的生物医学伦理学基础，强调老年精神病学研究和干预研究中的伦理问题；2)在实验设计、量表开发以及定量和定性数据分析方法方面的课程工作和咨询；3)理解干预试验的设计、实施、分析和报告中出现的程序、哲学和伦理问题(包括精神药理学和心理社会学)；4)加强研究参与者与知情同意相关的决策能力的方法的实证研究；5)根据拟议研究的结果和提出的问题，制定进一步的干预措施，旨在加强研究和治疗的知情同意和决策过程；6)向精神病学和其他生物医学领域的研究人员传播研究结果。该计划包括有组织的课程作业和咨询生物伦理学、老年精神病学、精神分裂症研究、精神病学研究伦理学和干预研究领域的专家。邓恩博士的第一手研究培训将包括对患有精神分裂症或分裂情感障碍的中老年(&gt；/=50岁)患者实施一项关于增强同意程序对研究决策能力的影响的随机试验。本课程将研究决策能力与精神病理学和认知功能的关系，并探索有关参与者对研究的态度和经验的定性信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this five-year training award is to further Dr. Laura Dunn's development as a geriatric psychiatry researcher, with a focus on psychiatric research ethics, specifically the empirical study of improving informed consent for research in older persons with schizophrenia or related disorders. The career development plan will build on Dr. Dunn's clinical background in psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, and on her research background in psychiatric research ethics. In June 2001, Dr. Dunn completed her psychiatric residency at University of California, San Diego. She is currently a clinical fellow in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSD. She has authored or co-authored a total of 14 articles that are published or in press, and she has presented six abstracts at national meetings. The overriding goal of the career development plan is to enable Dr. Dunn to become an independent investigator in geriatric psychiatry and psychiatric research ethics. The specific training targets are as follows: 1) attainment of a solid knowledge base in biomedical ethics, emphasizing ethical issues in geriatric psychiatry research and intervention studies; 2) coursework and consultation in experimental design, scale development, and quantitative and qualitative data analytic methods; 3) understanding of procedural, philosophical, and ethical issues arising in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of intervention trials (both psychopharmacologic and psychosocial); 4) empirical study of methods to enhance research participants' decisional abilities relevant for informed consent; 5) development, based on results and questions raised by the proposed study, of further interventions designed to enhance informed consent and decision-making processes for both research and treatment; and 6) dissemination of research findings to investigators in psychiatry and other biomedical fields. The plan includes structured coursework and consultation with experts in the fields of bioethics, geriatric psychiatry, schizophrenia research, psychiatric research ethics, and intervention studies. Dr. Dunn's firsthand research training will involve the implementation of a randomized trial of the effects of an enhanced consent procedure on decision-making capacity for research in middle-aged and older (>/= 50 years old) patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The relationship of decisional abilities to psychopathology and cognitive functioning will be examined, and qualitative information about participants' attitudes toward and experience with research will be explored.