This application is for the NIA Special Emphasis Research Career Award in Behavioral Geriatrics Research. The applicant is a behavioral psychologist with considerable experience in aging research. In particular she has investigated agitation in nursing home residents and developed assessment instruments for agitation, as well as a conceptual framework for the study of agitation. A full understanding of agitation and its treatment requires knowledge in pharmacology and physiologic processes. The purpose of this SERCA proposal is to provide the applicant, who has not had such training previously, with biomedical training which will allow her to develop a comprehensive and practical intervention program for agitation in the nursing home. Several areas of training are required to attain the skills necessary for understanding the complexity of intervention research in this population. The proposed training program includes supervised research experience, coursework, clinical training, and training with senior researchers and clinicians in the areas of pharmacology, geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry, and geriatric nursing. A research project utilizing a placebo-controlled, double-blind, design examining the impact of withdrawal of psychotropic drugs on agitation in nursing home residents will be conducted under the supervision of Raymond L. Woosley, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chairman, department of pharmacology, Georgetown University School of Medicine. This area of research is of extreme importance because of the burden and suffering afflicted on caregivers and agitated individuals. Additionally, the widespread use of psychotropic drugs in this population, and the high risk of adverse effects mandate that the effectiveness of these drugs and the process of withdrawal be evaluated.
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