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，需要进行集中的多学科努力，以了解病因和后果，并开发创新的治疗方法。匹兹堡的研究团队提供了互补的专业知识，卓越的研究生产力，并通过克劳德D.佩珀老年美国人独立中心正在进行的研究来解决这一需求。该项目包括来自5个学院的教师；医学、护理、公共卫生、联合卫生和工程。

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.