The goal of the Demonstration and Information Dissemination Core (DIDC) is to educate the lay public and health professionals regarding the antecedents (i.e., risk factors) and functional consequences of cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly stroke (CVA), and hip fracture, and the potential for exercise rehabilitation to increase functional independence.
The specific aims by which these will be accomplished involve: (1) determining the impact of these diseases on physical functioning and quality of life in community-based older populations; (2) modifying lifestyle behaviors through exercise to ameliorate chronic disability and increase functional capacity; and (3) teaching older adults about the physiological mechanisms underlying functional deficits, exercise, and improved functional status in individuals with cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke, and hip fracture. To achieve its goal, the DIDC will implement a two-tiered approach for the lay public. One tier is devoted to risk factor reduction through lifestyle modification as well as tertiary prevention, which was successful in the DIDC of our previous Pepper Center. The other lay tier is devoted to stroke patients and their families. One component of this tier is a study that uses a self-efficacy-based program that focuses on motivating older adults post stroke to initiate and adhere to a regular exercise program. This study incorporates educational outreach information related to stroke rehabilitation into the DIDC of this OAIC, thus closely linking the specific aims of the IS with those of the DIDC. Thus, the IS provides an increased opportunity for conducting a scientific approach to the DIDC. As another component of outreach to individuals with pre-existent stroke, we will participate in the development and maintenance of stroke support groups that are geographically expedient to the UMB. Another major function of DIDC is disseminating results of UMB OAIC research and updating health professionals? knowledge related to the pathophysiology of stroke, PAOD, and hip fracture and their clinical treatment. To provide information with more scientific breadth and scope to health-care providers from diverse disciplines, the DIDC will offer more traditional educational formats, such as in-service and continuing education programs.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 216 publications
