Gerontological Public Health Training Program - Program Description
The Gerontological Public Health Training Program helps predoctoral students and recent graduates of doctoral programs develop the skills essential to success in public health gerontology research, including:
- Defining, assessing and understanding the health status of older populations, determinants of health and illness, factors contributing to health promotion and disease prevention in older adults and factors influencing their use of and health services outcomes.
- Understanding the health burden among ethnic older populations, the causes for health disparities in diverse older populations and strategies to address these disparities.
- Employing appropriate research methods in the study of diverse older populations.
- Understanding ethical concerns in the conduct of research with diverse older populations.
- Recognizing and applying relevant theories of health, health behavior change, and social policy applied to health issues in older populations.
- Demonstrating grantsmanship skills in public health gerontology.
Four strategies support each trainee’s development in the program:
- Support throughout the fellowship from a primary mentor and at least one secondary mentor.
- Exposure to a formal comprehensive curriculum.
- Opportunities to develop research leadership and an independent research agenda through campus research presentations, national conference papers and research journal publications.
- Faculty seminars and workshops and invited lectures by nationally recognized researchers in public health gerontology.