The purpose of the Field Core (FC) is to provide essential research tools and strategies to address common challenges confronted in studies of multifactorial geriatric health conditions. In order to accomplish these goals the FC provides the methods, staff, resources, and expertise necessary to ensure efficient and successful project completion. More specifically, the aims of the FC are: 1) to create and advance, through development projects, innovative strategies to overcoming obstacles encountered in aging-related research; 2) to provide centralized participant recruitment, enrollment, assessment and surveillance services to the studies of the OAIC; 3) to train Field Core staff in uniform and reliable interview and assessment methods; 4) to collaborate with the Data Management and Informatics (DMI) Core to ensure uniformity of methods and measurement when appropriate among OAIC studies; 5) to assist Principal Investigators and project Directors in development of training modules and procedure manuals for their studies; 6) to provide assistance to junior faculty in the development of research protocols involving human subjects and their implementation in the field; 7) to provide assistance to non-OAIC investigators who wish to increase the participation of elderly participants in their research studies; 8) to recommend cost-containment strategies to enhance the productivity of research projects, particularly those operating with constrained budgets; 9) to monitor adherence to guidelines and regulations governing involvement of human subjects in OAIC projects; and 10) to provide a system of carefully monitoring recruitment and retention of minority elders in OAIC projects. By addressing these 10 aims the FC strives to fulfill its mission to offer and to improve upon methods of recruiting, retaining, assessing and intervening safely and effectively on targeted populations of elders. The goals of the two FC Development projects -- the """"""""Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Evaluations"""""""" (SAGE) and the """"""""Promoting Research Participation among Black and Hispanic Older Adults"""""""" - are to enhance the selection and use of geriatric assessments and to increase minority eider recruitment and retention rates in studies of multifactorial geriatric health conditions. In these ways, the FC will provide essential methodological services, resources, professional networking, and advice to ensure that the implementation of OAIC studies proceeds smoothly, economically, and successfully.
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