Prinicpal Investigator: Rantz
Co-Investigators: Ben Schwartz, David Mehr, David Oliver, Debra Parker-Oliver, George Demiris, Greg Alexander, Jia Lee, Joe LeMaster, Kevin Craig, Kevin Everett, Lanis Hicks, Marian Minor, Marjorie Skubic, Myra Aud, Robin Kruse, Ruth Tofle, Sarah-Jane Brier-Mackie, Steve Zweig, Vicki Conn, Wenches LinAgency: Hartford Foundation, RAND
Project Summary
Project Abstract
The Interdisciplinary Center on Aging at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) brings together health care providers, researchers and educators who are focused on the needs of the rapidly growing older adult population. This Center includes 78 faculty members (Center Fellows) representing six schools, five colleges, and 24 different departments at the University of Missouri. The proposed RAND/Hartford Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Care Research Center will promote interdisciplinary research with a special focus on development of innovative clinical and health services interventions for older adults. We will accomplish this goal by creating an interdisciplinary steering committee of senior faculty members, a monthly research seminar featuring speakers from 34 existing interdisciplinary research teams, interdisciplinary courses focusing on research on physical and cognitive function in aging, a small grants program to promote interdisciplinary scholarship and dissemination, and support of three pilot projects with high prospects of external funding addressing quality of life and quality of care. Represented among our participating center fellows are 18 NIH-funded researchers and 9 scholars who have funding from the Hartford Foundation. Junior faculty and senior faculty mentors work side-by-side on 34 interdisciplinary research teams representing 39 different disciplines. The RAND/Hartford Geriatric Research Center at the University of Missouri will focus resources on developing junior faculty in concert with senior mentors addressing clinical interventions. Faculty members from the three core disciplines (medicine, nursing, and social work) have a strong track record of collaborative research. Architectural studies, engineering, and physical therapy are added to create our nucleus of six key disciplines, while 33 other disciplines will join these in developing interdisciplinary research and research training.
Measurable Goals / Objectives
The overall objective of our RAND/Harford Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Care Research Center is to promote interdisciplinary research with a special focus on development of innovative clinical and health services interventions for older adults. We will impart to junior faculty and graduate students the needed attitudes, knowledge, and skills for conducting relevant interdisciplinary research related. We will accomplish this through the following goals:
Goal 1: Create an interdisciplinary steering committee of senior faculty members.
Plan: Six senior faculty representing Nursing, Medicine, Social Work, Engineering, Architectural Studies, and Physical Therapy will constitute the Steering Committee and will meet monthly to review and hold accountable the program plan and its implementation. They will also serve as senior mentors to junior faculty.
Measure: Quarterly minutes of Steering Committee meetings and quarterly reports and content of senior/junior mentor meetings will be recorded.
Goal 2: Conduct a monthly research seminar featuring speakers from 34 existing interdisciplinary research teams.
Plan: Vicki Conn (Nursing) and David Oliver (Project Director) will organize, schedule and invite Center fellows, other campus faculty, and graduate students to attend monthly research seminars on aging featuring interdisciplinary work and speakers.
Measure: Topics, handouts, attendance by discipline, and biographical sketch of presenters will be recorded.
Goal 3: Develop an interdisciplinary course focusing on age-related physical and cognitive function research, alternating physical and cognitive function in odd and even years.
Plan: Steven Zweig (Co-PI) will provide leadership, along with the participation of Steering Committee members, for the development of two interdisciplinary courses on aging: Topics in Aging Research: Physical and Psychosocial Function. Graduate students who have preparation in research methods in their respective disciplines will be invited. It will be listed under courses offered by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, but will be marketed and cross-listed campus wide.
Measure: Course syllabi, recruitment and marketing methods, attendance by discipline, and course evaluations (faculty and student) will be collected and summarized.
Goal 4: Create a small grants research program to promote interdisciplinary scholarship and dissemination to ensure sustainability of the initiative.
Plan: A small grants research program will be led by Marilyn Rantz (Co-PI), reviewed by the Steering Committee and managed by David Oliver (Project Director). Three $8,000 interdisciplinary research grants focusing on clinical and health systems interventions will be awarded each year, and three $2,000 interdisciplinary graduate student research grants will be awarded each year focusing on clinical and health systems interventions. Funding will be part of the University of Missouri match for this proposal and will be continued beyond the RAND/Hartford period of funding, thus ensuring the sustainability of the interdisciplinary geriatric healthcare research center initiative.
Measure: Funded grant proposals (copy), disciplines and investigators, publications and presentations.
Goal 5: Provide support for three pilot research projects with high prospects of external funding and improvement in quality of life and quality of care.
Plan: Each pilot research project will have its own set of evaluation measures, and be required to submit progress reports to the Steering Committee on a quarterly basis. The Committee will also serve as a resource of information and assistance.
Measure: Quarterly progress notes, role in leveraging subsequent research grants, tracking of interdisciplinary relationships and continuing collaboration, publications and presentations.
Goal 6: To sustain momentum and enhance skills relating to interdisciplinary clinical and health systems interventions research, senior and junior faculty will attend the RAND/Hartford Career Development Institutes.
Plan: Send five senior/junior faculty members to attend two one-day career development seminars each year with the understanding and commitment that they will share what they learned at one of the scheduled on-campus monthly research seminars.
Measure: Presentations at Monthly Research Seminar upon return to campus: sharing of information and learning; handouts to be shared with all Center Fellow.
Goal 7: Develop long-term business plan for sustainability.
Plan: Quarterly evaluations by steering committee of quality of care projects underway, submitted, and externally funded. Make the case for continuation of institutional match beyond Marilyn Rantz, RN, PhD, Steven Zweig, MD 25 the funding period to ensure sustaining of center. Continue interdisciplinary coursework with co-mentoring of projects by senior faculty. Use pilot projects to submit larger grants, reserving portion of indirect costs to support Geriatric Health Care Research Center.
Measure: Report on projects, grant submissions, and grants funded. Annual report to Vice Chancellor for Research with Center on Aging budget including support for Geriatric Health Care Research Center. Faculty and student participation in interdisciplinary courses. Indirect costs assigned to budget for Geriatric Health Care Research Center.