All the events here are relevant to people working in dementia research. If you would like to add your own you can submit an event
- This event has passed.
Building more inclusive Alzheimer’s studies
March 22 @ 6:30 am - 7:30 pm
NIA continues to combat health disparities in aging research. As part of our ongoing work in this area, about six years ago, we released a funding opportunity to support scientific teams focused on improving diversity, inclusion, and engagement of populations historically underrepresented in research.
On March 22, we will share some success stories from this effort during The Basics of Participant Recruitment: Building for Inclusion, a webinar organized in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). The event will feature lessons learned from two NIA-funded teams and highlight their strategies that can be applied to other research recruitment, diversity, and retention efforts.
If you are seeking to increase participant diversity and inclusion in your Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research, be sure to register for this exciting opportunity and read more about the teams below.
Register to AttendIncluding older adults in the recruitment workforce
In Denver, Kathryn Nearing, Ph.D., M.A., and her team lead a transformative initiative at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to create a more age-inclusive research workforce and catalyze new approaches to enhance recruitment and retention of older adults in clinical trials. The team has trained 42 older adults from diverse backgrounds to become Older Adult Research Specialists (OARS). OARS help clinical trial teams with community outreach, education, and engagement for recruitment; facilitating informed consent; and connecting participants with community resources to support retention. OARS have been hired within six departments/centers to support NIA-funded clinical trials and are inspiring and training other research teams across their campus.
Community building across the nation
In Atlanta, Whitney Wharton, Ph.D., and her colleagues have created the RISE (Research Inclusion Supports Equity) Registry to partner with the LGBTQIA+ aging and caregiving community to improve outreach in Alzheimer’s and related dementias research. RISE uses community-focused, inclusive approaches to research engagement, recruitment, and support of LGBTQIA+ caregivers and people living with memory loss. The effort connects registrants with local aging and caregiving resources, and opportunities to participate in research studies, questionnaires, and focus groups across the nation.
Investigators are encouraged to use RISE to enhance LGBTQIA+ inclusion and to obtain training on using sexual orientation and gender identity data points and tailored recruitment strategies in their research. Conceptualized with guidance from a national board and three local community advisory boards, RISE is rooted in the community-based participatory research model and can promote research opportunities to its over 1,000 registrants.
Learn from the teams
If you’re looking to enhance recruitment for your studies, register today for the March 22 webinar! And mark your calendars for a related ISTAART immersive event with five additional NIA-funded teams coming up July 26 in Philadelphia during the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
NIA will continue to support innovations that improve and transform recruitment, engagement, and inclusion of diverse communities in aging research. If you have success stories to share in this important effort, please leave a comment below!
