A considerable gap continues to exist between available evidence based health promotion programs and their uptake by minority older adults. Our proposed UIC Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Translation addresses this gap by accelerating the translation of basic behavioral and social science research theories and methodologies into practical outcomes to improve the functioning and quality of life of older adults. We will apply existing theory to studies of health behavior change among older minority adults at the individual and societal levels. We will fund pilot studies that examine factors that facilitate initiation and adherence to health behavior change at the individual level using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Prochaska &Velicer, 1997) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1989), as well as studies of processes and outcomes involved in translating evidence-based health behavior change interventions at the organizational and societal level using the RE-AIM framework (Glasgow, Vogt and Boles, 1999). Our current Roybal Center expanded our scope beyond the level of the individual and expanded the theoretical basis of the Center's activities to address not only interventions that assist individuals but also studies of factors involved in the successful translation of evidence-based programs into practice. Our proposed renewal Center builds on and expands this work by targeting interventions to older minority adults. Our work will continue to be guided by the RE-AIM framework for evaluating health promotion interventions to identify those that have the greatest potential for broad based dissemination and cost effectiveness. The Center Research Faculty will include Drs. Hughes, Prohaska, Baldyga, Campbell, Heller, and Rimmerand all of the Principal Investigators of funded pilot projects. We have also added four new Faculty, Drs. Ramirez-Valles, Furner, Jurivich and Dr. Buchner at UIUC. The Pilot Pis will be responsible for completing all activities proposed under their projects, under the oversight of the Management Core. The Pilot Core will provide grant funding for a minimum of two pilots per year, solicited from faculty and student researchers at UIC, other University of Illinois campuses, and other Universities as appropriate. The Executive Committee, made up of senior researchers from multiple units on the UIC campus, will guide the direction of the Center and oversee the pilot projects. The overall performance of the proposed Center will be guided by a distinguished Advisory Committee that will include representatives from diverse academic, provider, funder, consumer, and media stakeholder groups.
Effective evidence-based health promotion programs that help older adults make behavior changes to increase the quality of their lives are available. However, participation in these programs by minority older adults is very low. Our Roybal Center addresses this critical issue by adapting effective programs to be culturally sensitive and examining ways of encourage organizations to offer and maintain the programs.
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