Center for Minority Aging
and Health Research

What is the Center for Minority Aging and Health Research?

The Center for Minority Aging and Health Research provides a forum for faculty and students interested in issues related to minority aging and health. Through support for research training of faculty, the program develops research modules and partners with various organizations in the Boston community.

Article on "Racism Blamed for Health Disparities"
Objectives
Specific Aims
Accomplishments
Resources
Calendar of Events
Sources of Funding

What are the objectives of the Center?

The purpose of the Center is to build an infrastructure to encourage cross-university collaboration for research on minority aging and health issues.

This Center is established to serve as a resource to the Harvard academic community to help maximize the effectiveness of the work being done on minority aging and health, and especially to encourage interdisciplinary work which otherwise would not take place. In alignment with both the goals of the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging to address issues of health and disparities in health care based on racial or social inequalities, especially among the aging American population. This program is a starting point for a number of projects to expand and unite the infrastructure for research, policy, and practice on minority aging and health work at the Harvard Medical School.

What are the specific aims of the Center?

In order to accomplish the main objectives stated above, a core committee of faculty and students would be established to hold monthly meetings regarding the following seven specific aims for the Center:

• Building a minority aging portal, which includes a repository for databases of data collections on minority elderly, searchable faculty database, central calendar of events, links to academic departments and research centers involved in minority aging research, available grants, and information about degree programs and other educational offerings across the university, including a guide to relevant courses;

• Establishing a minority aging network that will foster on-going collaborations between junior and senior faculty with similar research interests in minority aging and health through webconferencing, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and hosting a number of small informal dinners between junior and senior faculty, as well as between research and post-doctoral fellows, from different schools;

• A minority aging research fellow will be awarded to a Harvard Medical School or graduate student of minority ethnic descent and interested in a project on minority aging and health research that will result in a publishable paper.

• Planning a colloquium series as an opportunity for junior and senior faculty from across the university to present their work to each other and to senior faculty that may not otherwise get exposure to;

• Offering methodology workshops to introduce and train interested junior and senior faculty on latest cutting-edge quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method techniques and software in minority aging and health research;

• Produce a much needed and challenging monograph entitled: “Handbook on Minority Aging and Health” that encompasses theory, methods, and practice in the field of gerontology with a specific focus on minority populations.

• Arranging grant-writing sessions between junior and senior faculty with similar research interests to collaborate on grants and refine drafts of grants.

• Longitudinal data collection on health of older minorities and attitudes toward recruitment in research.

• Collaborating with other Centers within Harvard Medical School and teaching affiliates, such as the COE on Minority Health and Health Disparities, COE in Women’s Health by providing funding to support programs, fellows, and research projects for motivated and talented minority researchers to conduct minority aging health research.

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What has the Center accomplished thus far?

• A number of minority junior high school, undergraduate, medical, and post-doctoral students have worked on short-term research projects. For example, in the summer of 2004, Cecile Zhao and Dadjie Santus have looked at various aspects of minority health either as a main variable of interest or as a control variable in relation to elderly health outcomes.

• Funded junior faculty members on minority aging and health care research projects (list of names available upon request).

• The edited volume: “Recruitment and Retention in Minority Populations: Lessons Learned in Conducting Research on Health Promotion and Minority Aging,” by Levkoff SE, Prohaska TR, Weitzman PF, & Ory MG. New York: Springer Publishing Company

• Pilot study conducted within one of the NIA's six Exploratory Centers for Research on Health Promotion in Older Minority Populations, “Family Caregivers of Elderly with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders”

• News Release from Harvard Medical School Office of Public Affairs: “Harvard Medical School Researchers Find Family Values and Ethnic Background Influence the Care for Elders with Alzheimer's Disease”

  • • http://focus.hms.harvard.edu/1997/Sept19_1997/socmed.html
    • http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/0997dement.html

The following are featured articles from the Center (complete list is available upon request):

o Levkoff SE, Levy BR, & Weitzman PF. (2000). The Matching Model of Recruitment. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 6, 1, pp. 29-38.

o Sue Levkoff and Herman Sanchez Lessons. (2003). Learned About Minority Recruitment and Retention From the Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion Gerontologist, 43: 18-26.

o Ho, Cheryl J., Weitzman, Patricia Flynn, Cui, Xingjia, & Levkoff, Sue E., Stress and Service Use among Minority Caregivers to Elders with Dementia, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 2000, 33, 1, 67-88.

o Levkoff, S. E.; Weitzman, P. F, Chee, Y. (1999). A social cognitive examination of responses to family conflicts by African-American and Chinese-American caregivers, 14(6): 343-350.

o Guo, Z., Levy, B. R., Hinton, W. L., Witzman, P. F., & Levkoff, S. E. (2000). The power of labels: Recruiting dementia-affected Chinese American elders and their caregivers. Journal of Mental Health & Aging, 6(1),103–112.

o Levkoff S, Levy B, Weitzman PF. The role of religion and ethnicity in the help seeking of family caregivers of elders with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. J Cross Cult Gerontol 1999;Dec, 14(4):335-356.

Which websites can I go to for information on minority aging and health research?

NIA Review of minority aging research
http://www.nia.nih.gov/research/minority/execsummary.htm#charge

Current RCMAR website
http://www.rcmar.ucla.edu/centersa.php

Curriculum module on aging and ethnicity
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~aging/ModuleMinority1.html
http://www.med.und.nodak.edu/depts/rural//nrcnaa/
http://www.aoa.gov/
http://www.aging.unc.edu/cad/index.html
http://www.ncba-aged.org/
http://www.aging.unc.edu/cad/index.html
http://scrcmar.musc.edu/index.aspx
http://medicine.ucsf.edu/cadc/
http://salk.cpmc.columbia.edu/dept/calme/
http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/nerc/
http://mcuaaar.iog.wayne.edu/
http://www.chime.ucla.edu/index.htm
http://www.rcmar.ucla.edu/cc_dir.php
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/k/e/kew5/
http://www.luce.lincolnu.edu/mima.HTM
http://www.agec.arizona.edu/MinorityAging.aspx
http://www.apa.org/mfp/aprogram.html
http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/NACDA-CDROM/03297.xml
http://www.asaging.org/
http://diversityeducation.cas.psu.edu/Aging.html

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What monographs are currently available on minority aging and health?

The following are books available on minority aging research, which is deficient of updated information on methodology, theories, policy, and practice. The establishment of the Center as part of Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, can be a world leading entity in minority aging research that is greatly in need of recognition and research for the near future where an increasing percentage of the US aging population is made up of minorities.

Minorities, Aging, and Health
by Kyriakos S. Markides, Manuel R. Miranda (1997)

Recruitment and Retention in Minority Populations: Lessons Learned in Conducting Research on Health Promotion and Minority Aging
by Sue, Sc.D. Levkoff, Thomas R., Ph.D. Prohaska, Patricia Flynn, Ph.D. Wietzman, Marcia G., Ph.D. Ory (2000)

Handbook on Ethnicity, Aging, and Mental Health
by Deborah K. Padgett (1995)

Aging: Culture, Health, and Social Change
by David N. Weisstub, David C. Thomasma, Serge Gauthier, George F. Tomossy (2001)

Aging And Diversity: An Active Learning Experience
by Stephen B. Fried (1998)

The Forgotten Aged: Ethnic, Psychiatric, and Societal Minorities
by T.L. Brink, T. L. Brink (1994)

Promoting Health in Multicultural Populations: A Handbook for Practitioners
by Rober M. Huff, Micahel V. Kline (1999)

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Calendar of Events

Gerontological Society of America
58th Annual Scientific Meeting
November 18th-22, 2005
New Orleans, LA
http://geron.org/

Minority Aging Research Workshop: Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Friday, April 15, 2005
Location: Longwood Hall Conference Room, Inn at Longwood
9:00am-4:00pm

This two-day workshop is to enhance the professional development in minority aging research of early to mid-career gerontologists, physicains, epidemiologists, sociologists, psychologists, medical anthropologists, and other professionals, who have taken one or more research methods courses, by using qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Application Form
Abstract Form
Brochure

Spring Colloquium Series (Tentative topics)
Overview to Aging and Diversity
The Psychological Aging Experience for Minorities
Mental Health and Minority Aging
Issues in Physical and Mental Health Among Older Minorities
Caring for Older Minorities

Sources of Funding

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS IN OLDER PERSONS. PA NUMBER: PA-03-061 Deadline: February 1, June 1, and October 1.

Criteria: Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH programs. Description: Research objectives of this program announcement include, but are not limited to: (1) studying patterns of alcohol consumption and the distribution of alcohol-related problems in the older and elderly population as a whole and in specific sub-populations of this group; (2) studying risk and protective factors for alcohol-related problems in the older and elderly population as a whole and in specific subpopulations of this group; (3) elucidating disparities among racial/ethnic groups of older and elderly persons with respect to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems; (4) understanding the natural history, course, and short- and long-term outcomes of alcohol consumption among older and elderly persons. This PA will use the NIH Research Project grant (RO1), Small Grant (R03), and Exploratory/Development grant (R21) award mechanisms. As an applicant, you will be solely responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed project. http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-03-061.html

The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination/Bias on Health Care Delivery
PA Number: PA-05-006 Deadline: February 1, June 1, and October 1.

Criteria: Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH programs. Description: The purposes of this Program Announcement (PA) are: (1) to improve the measurement of racial /ethnic discrimination in health care delivery systems through improved instrumentation, data collection and statistical/analytical techniques; (2) to enhance understanding of the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination in health care delivery and its association with disparities in disease incidence, treatment and outcomes among disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority groups; and (3) to reduce the prevalence of racial/ethnic health disparities through the development of interventions to reduce the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination on health care delivery systems in the United States.

This funding opportunity will use the NIH Research Project Grant (R01), the Exploratory/Development (R21) and the Small Grant (R03) award mechanisms. Applications using the R01 award mechanism must have extensive preliminary data and build on previous pilot work or existing research in the proposed research area. Applicants without extensive preliminary data or who wish to develop research methodology or instruments to address a specific research question are urged to submit applications using the R21 mechanism. Applications using the R21 mechanism should be novel, exploratory or developmental. The R03 mechanism is for pilot work and is appropriate for funding for short periods of time for research projects that have limited costs, that are narrow in scope and that involve the use of widely accepted approaches and methods.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-05-006.html.

Alliance for Aging Research
http://www.agingresearch.org/

The private, not-for-profit Alliance for Aging Research is the nation's leading citizen advocacy organization for improving the health and independence of Americans as they age. The Alliance was founded in 1986 to promote medical and behavioral research into the aging process. Since then, and as the explosion of the Senior Boom approaches, the Alliance has become the voice for Baby Boomer health by developing, implementing and advocating programs in research, professional and consumer health education and public policy.

Center of Excellence for Minority Health and Health Disparities
http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dcp/coe/

Awarded to Harvard Medical School in September 2002, and under the direction of the Office for Diversity and Community Partnership, the Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities (COE)seeks to enhance the academic performance of underrepresented minority (URM) students, strengthen efforts to support the cultural competency preparedness of faculty, residents, and students, and to expand current models for underrepresented faculty development and student/faculty research that focuses on issues of minority health and health disparities.

Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research
http://www.rcmar.ucla.edu/

The National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Research in Minority Health created a program to decrease the minority/non-minority differential in health and its social sequelae for older people by focusing research upon health promotion, disease prevention, and disability prevention.

UNC Institute on Aging Research
http://www.aging.unc.edu/cad/index.html

The Center for Aging and Diversity addresses, through research and training, health disparities in later life, provides a forum in which to discuss and examine ethnic, racial and cultural variation in life course processes and disseminates research findings to the academic and lay community on the health of older diverse populations.

Lincoln University Paula J. Carter Center on Minority Health and Aging
http://www.luce.lu.edu/PJCCMHA_Resources.HTM

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Workshop

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The Center for Minority Aging and Health Research is funded through the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Leadership Award.