RESOURCE CENTERS FOR MINORITY AGING RESEARCH
Mission Statement
Health disparities are associated with a broad, complex, and interrelated array of factors. Risk factors, diagnosis, progression, response to treatment, caregiving, and overall quality of life may be affected by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, and other factors. Disparities in health status and medical care are most acutely experienced by the older population since they are at the highest risk for most diseases and disability. To eliminate health disparities, a widely established national priority, requires research that includes a special focus on the distribution of disease and disability between racial and ethnic groups in society.
The Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) mission is to decrease health disparities by:
- Increasing the number of researchers who focus on the health of minority elders;
- Enhancing the diversity in the professional workforce by mentoring minority academic researchers for careers in minority elders health research;
- Improving recruitment and retention methods used to enlist minority elders in research studies;
- Creating culturally sensitive health measures that assess the health status of minority elders with greater precision; and,
- Increasing the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve their health and well-being.
The six funded RCMAR centers for 2007-2012:
- University of Alabama at Birmingham: Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research
- University of California, Los Angeles: Center for Health Improvement for Minority Elders
- University of California, San Francisco: Center for Aging in Diverse Communities
- University of Colorado: Native Elder Research Center
- University of Michigan/Wayne State University: Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research
- University of Pennsylvania: PENN RCMAR
A central coordinating center provides logistical support to the RCMAR centers, and oversees dissemination activities designed to reach the larger research and health professional communities, public policy makers, and consumers. The coordinating center is also the national clearinghouse for measurement tools, instruments, publications, community activity, pilot research, and other resources developed by RCMAR investigators.
The RCMAR Coordinating Center:
- University of California, Los Angeles: RCMAR National Coordinating Center at UCLA
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