Support is requested for a scientific meeting, Crossing Network Lines: Advancing Knowledge of Coalition Building Between Aging and Disability Service Providers to Improve Service Delivery for Older Adults, to be held on April 22nd and 23rd, 2004, at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. Advances in medical and rehabilitation science have led to a substantial increase in the number of adults aging with disabilities related to diagnostic conditions such as polio, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation. The result is the phenomenon of aging with disability. Over time, these adults """"""""age out"""""""" of many disability service network programs and """"""""age into"""""""" programs and services offered by aging service networks. The variance in professional support results in adults aging with disabilities being underserved in the areas of home health care, housing, transportation, nutrition, social support, and protective services. Barriers to cross-network collaboration include lack of knowledge about the other service networks in general, lack of knowledge about the """"""""shared"""""""" population of consumers, and lack of understanding of and appreciation for """"""""cultural"""""""" differences between service networks and service network providers. The proposed scientific meeting brings together the best of both national research and local practice knowledge in this area to 1) assess current knowledge of coalition building, 2) evaluate and analyze new research identifying barriers and facilitators to coalition building across Missouri's aging and disability networks as a case example, 3) develop a research agenda to demonstrate, test, and evaluate interventions aimed at closing service gaps and improving service delivery for older adults by strengthening coalition building between aging and disability service networks, and 4) discuss strategies for effectively translating research findings into the next steps of intervention, evaluation, and research in this area. Dissemination of proceedings will be through a published volume with contributions by each presenter, as well as a summary report authored by the meeting organizers. This conference will be a Washington University in St. Louis Sesquicentennial event, thus it will be showcased as a premier event at the University for 2004. This conference offers a unique opportunity for leading researchers in this area to work directly with aging and disability service providers to devise interventions to close gaps in service delivery between aging and disability networks and improve service delivery for older adults.
