Pittsburgh Older Americans Independence Center

描述(由申请人提供)：老年人的平衡障碍是常见的、致残的和复杂的。为了预防和治疗这些疾病，需要集中多学科的努力来了解原因和后果，并开发创新的治疗方法。匹兹堡的调查团队通过克劳德·D·佩珀老年美国人独立中心提供互补的专业知识、出色的研究效率和持续的研究来满足这一需求。该项目包括来自5个学院的教师：医学、护理、公共卫生、专职卫生和工程学。 匹兹堡克劳德·D·佩珀中心的具体目标是：1)开发干预措施，改善患有平衡障碍的老年人的功能和独立性；2)将影响平衡的生理、生物力学和心理社会机制研究与临床研究相结合；3)促进多学科研究和研究培训。该计划有5个研究核心(参与者核心、评估核心、技术核心、数据管理/分析核心和坚持/保留核心)、一个研究职业发展核心、一个试点/探索性核心和一个领导/管理核心。该项目整合了11项独立资助的研究。培训支持直接提供给胡椒学者，也提供给相关项目的学员。 该计划的长期目标是1)将维持或改善平衡的有效干预措施纳入不同医疗保健和社区环境中的常规临床护理和健康计划，并减少平衡障碍的负面后果；2)进一步确定平衡障碍贡献者的循证鉴别诊断，可用于临床实践中的预防和治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Balance disorders in older persons are common, disabling and complex. In order to prevent and treat these disorders, a concentrated, multidisciplinary effort to understand causes and consequences, and to develop innovative treatments, is needed. The team of investigators at Pittsburgh offers complementary expertise, outstanding research productivity, and ongoing studies to address this need through a Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. This program includes faculty from 5 Schools; medicine, nursing, public health, allied health, and engineering. The Specific Aims of the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Center are to 1) develop interventions to improve function and independence in older adults with balance disorders, 2) integrate studies of physiologic, biomechanical and psychosocial mechanisms affecting balance with clinical studies, and 3) foster multidisciplinary research and research training. The Program has 5 Research Cores (Participant Core, Assessment Core, Technology Core, Data Management/Analysis Core and Adherence/Retention Core), a Research Career Development Core, a Pilot/Exploratory Core and a Leadership/Administration Core. The program integrates 11 independently funded studies. Training support is provided directly to Pepper Scholars and also to trainees in related programs. The long range goals of the Program are to 1) incorporate effective interventions to maintain or improve balance, and reduce the negative consequences of balance disorders, into usual clinical care and wellness programs in diverse health care and community settings and 2) further define an evidence-based differential diagnosis of contributors to balance disorders that can be used in clinical practice for prevention and treatment.