Intervention to Raise Octogenarians' Walking Levels

描述(由申请人提供)：Sarkisian博士是一名获得董事会认证的内科医生，拥有老年医学附加资格证书。她的研究重点是预防老年人的残疾，特别是老年人对衰老的预期对他们健康行为的影响。她有很强的观察性研究技能，现在正在寻求行为干预和临床试验方法学方面的研究培训。作为拟议中的保罗·B·比森老龄事业发展奖的主要导师，大卫·B·鲁本博士是老龄研究领域的全国领先者，拥有进行NIA资助的调查的丰富经验，将监督Sarkisian博士的研究培训和职业发展，使其成为一名独立的研究员和老龄领域的领导者。与鲁本博士一起，一个多学科指导团队将与萨基西安博士密切合作，在萨基西安博士开展拟议的研究并获取新技能的同时，她将与萨基西安博士密切合作，这些技能对她未来的工作至关重要。曼乔内博士是一名卫生服务研究员，在社区参与性研究方面有专长，托马斯·普罗哈斯卡博士在体力活动干预方面有专长，伯纳德·韦纳博士是一名激励心理学家。 由于定期体力活动对老年人的健康和生活质量有很大贡献，因此确定提高老年人体力活动水平的有效战略是当前的国家优先事项。然而，对于超过出生时预期寿命的成年人，即80岁及以上的成年人，迄今几乎没有能够成功提高和维持体力活动水平的干预措施。此前，萨基西安博士和她的跨学科导师团队设计了一种创新的行为干预措施，通过提高65岁及以上成年人的衰老期望值来增加他们的步行次数。建议的被辅导者的目标 研究计划是为八旬老人量身定做这种干预措施，然后在一项小型随机临床试验(RCT)中对修改后的干预措施进行试点测试。具体地说，在这项拟议研究的第一阶段，萨基西安博士将组织焦点小组，以确定八旬老人对体育活动的预期结果，并与她的导师密切合作，设计一种基于理论的行为干预措施，以满足80多岁老人最看重的期望。在第二阶段，萨基西安博士将对60名从老年居住设施招募的八旬老人进行改良干预措施的小型随机对照试验，以获得指导更大规模随机对照试验设计的初步数据。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Sarkisian is a board-certified internist with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine. Her research focuses on prevention of disability among older adults, in particular the impact of older adults' expectations for aging on their health behaviors. She has strong observational research skills, and now seeks research training in behavioral interventions and clinical trial methodology. As her primary mentor on the proposed Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award in Aging, Dr. David B. Reuben, a national leader in aging research with extensive experience conducting NIA-funded investigations, will supervise Dr. Sarkisian's research training and career development towards becoming an independent investigator and a leader in the field of aging. Along with Dr. Reuben, a multidisciplinary mentoring team including Dr. Carol M. Mangione, a health services researcher with expertise in community-based participatory research, Dr. Thomas Prohaska, a gerontologist with expertise in physical activity interventions, and Dr. Bernard Weiner, a motivational psychologist, will work closely with Dr. Sarkisian while she conducts the proposed research and acquires new skills that will be critical in her future work conducting community-based interventions aimed at decreasing functional decline among older persons at greatest risk. Because regular physical activity strongly contributes to the health and quality of life of older adults, identifying effective strategies for increasing physical activity levels among older adults is a current national priority. For adults who have exceeded their life-expectancy at birth, i.e. those aged 80 years and greater, however, as yet there exists little to offer in terms of interventions that can successfully raise and sustain physical activity levels. Previously, Dr. Sarkisian and her interdisciplinary team of mentors designed an innovative behavioral intervention to increase walking among adults aged 65 years and greater by raising their expectations for aging. The objective of the proposed mentored research program is to tailor this intervention to octogenarians, and then pilot test the modified intervention in a small randomized clinical trial (RCT). Specifically, in Phase I of the proposed research, Dr. Sarkisian will conduct focus groups to identify the outcome expectations for physical activity among octogenarians, and working closely with her mentors, will design a theoretically-based behavioral intervention to match the expectations most highly valued by octogenarians. In Phase II, Dr. Sarkisian will conduct a small RCT of the modified intervention with 60 octogenarians recruited from senior residential facilities to obtain preliminary data that would guide the design of a larger RCT.