This proposal for a Special Emphasis Research Career Award in Behavioral Geriatrics presents a research/study plan to prepare the candidate for participation on interdisciplinary research teams investigating strategies to reduce and manage risk factors of cardiovascular disease among the elderly. The proposed SERCA plan will prepare the candidate to contribute as a behavioral scientist to the design of interventions to encourage health promoting behavior, to provide expertise in the measurement and monitoring of appropriate behavioral indices, to investigate the associations among psychosocial antecedents and observed behavioral outcomes of those interventions, and to evaluate the effectiveness of risk factor interventions by relating changes in health promoting behaviors to changes in biomedical risk factor indicators. The plan for Years 1 and 2 consists of supervised research (major advisor: Dr. Millicent Higgins), coursework and seminars, supervised clinical experience in patient care settings, site visits, and attendance at a relevant professional meeting. These activities are intended to provide the candidate with interdisciplinary experiences in a number of areas pertinent to designing and conducting research on cardiovascular risk factor management. The candidate has also formed an advisory panel of scientists representing expertise in cardiology, cardiovascular research, hypertension, geriatrics, and nutrition. The research project to be conducted in Year 3 of the award will integrate the several parts of the candidate's program in an original investigation. The project will be designed to examine the associations which may exist among cardiovascular risk indicators, behavioral practices, and psychosocial background measures of the participants. Future time perspective, the family environment, and health beliefs will be given particular emphasis as psychosocial background, and will thereby provide continuity with work conducted to date by the candidate.
