Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Translation

A considerable gap continues to exist between available evidence-based health promotion programs and their use by minority older adults. The UIC Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Translation proposes to address this gap by accelerating the translation of basic behavioral and social science research theories and methodologies into practical outcomes to improve the functioning and quality of life of older adults. Center researchers apply existing theory to studies of health behavior change among older minority adults at the individual and societal levels. The center funds pilot studies that examine factors that facilitate initiation and adherence to health behavior change at the individual level using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Prohaska & Velicer, 1997) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1989), as well as studies of processes and outcomes involved in translating evidence-based health behavior change interventions at the organizational and societal level using the RE-AIM framework (Glasgow, Vogt and Boles, 1999). The Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Behavior Change expanded our scope beyond the level of the individual and expanded the theoretical basis of the Center's activities to address not only interventions that assist individuals but also studies of factors involved in the successful translation of evidence-based programs into practice. This new center builds on that work and expands it by targeting interventions to older minority adults. Our work will continue to be guided by the RE-AIM framework for evaluating health promotion interventions to identify those that have the greatest potential for broad based dissemination and cost effectiveness.

Pilot projects ($50K each) for years 1 and 2 of the grant include:

1. Translating Fit and Strong! for Older Latinos (Cheryl DerAnanian at ASU, PI)
2. Translating Strong for Life into the Community Care Program (Tom Prohaska, PI)
3. Project WEL: Walking & Environment in Older Latinos (David Marquez, PI)
4. Stress Reduction with Tai Chi for Elderly Hispanics with Diabetes (Amparo Del Castillo, PI)