The goal of the Roybal Center at Cornell University is to apply compelling new theoretical and empirical findings in the area of social integration and isolation, with the unified goal of improving health and quality of life for older adults. Diverse bodies of research clearly indicate that deficits in social networks and support are associated with substantial mortality, morbidity, and increased health care costs in older persons. Further, the problems of social isolation and inadequate social support are more prevalent among older people by virtue of major life transitions. Although these transitions are often inevitable, the consequences of social isolation are potentially amenable to intervention. In this renewal, the strengths and expertise of existing Cornell Roybal Center will be merged with two other prominent centers on aging within the Cornell system: the Center for Aging Research and Clinical Care at the Weill Cornell Medical College; and the Institute for Geriatric Psychiatry at Cornell's Psychiatric Division. This expansion of the Cornell Roybal Center will be called The Center for Integrated Translational Research on Aging and Social Integration (CITRAS). This unique partnership brings together the three areas crucial for translational research on aging and social integration: mental health, clinical research, and social science. An especially important feature of this proposal is the engagement of community stakeholders at every stage in the research process, thereby acknowledging the complex, multidimensional needs of isolated older people and the constituencies that serve them. These partnerships will bring Center interventions to locations where most socially isolated older persons are served, creating a """"""""laboratory"""""""" in which we will study the delivery of efficacious treatments. Specific objectives for this renewal of the Roybal Center include: 1) Promoting and testing research based interventions involving the impact of social integration on mental and physical health; 2. Bringing together researchers with practitioners in the field of aging in the design and implementation of interventions and applied research studies; 3. Creating an effective infrastructure through the management core of the center that will coordinate the activities of individual investigators and maximize the effectiveness of practical applications; 4. Developing, mentoring, and evaluating pilot projects on the themes of social integration and health outcomes; 5. Generating funded research projects from federal and other sources, by mentoring and assisting investigators; 6. Devoting special attention to social isolation in minority communities, which will be enhanced by a formal connection to the Resource Center for Minority Aging Research at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
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