Commumity Liaison and Recruitment Core

REVISED ABSTRACT: COMMUNITY LIAISON AND RECRUITMENT CORE The Community Liaison and Recruitment Core (CLRC) serves as a liaison between the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) and key stakeholders in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) at risk communities, specifically the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) community in East Michigan (metro Detroit) and the Latino community in West Michigan (Grand Rapids). We propose three major ways to extend MCCFAD’s work in recruitment, retention science, and community translation. First, we will expand our engagement efforts by linking our recruitment and community research activities with key NIA funded Michigan Aging Centers. Second, we will actively solicit community engagement in scientific dissemination. Third, we will expand our liaison activities to partner with community clinics, health providers and public health workers to enhance participation in research. To support MCCFAD goals of advancing research and practice in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, the CLRC leads the development, implementation and evaluation of an adapted innovative Community Based Participation Research approach to health education and community outreach activities, with an overarching goal of enhancing research in recruitment and retention. These efforts will be closely coordinated with the activities of the Leadership and Administrative, Research and Education and Analytic Cores in addition to the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR) and the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (MADRC). Both MCUAAAR and MADRC have established community cores comprised of African Americans. MCCFAD will focus efforts on further building a statewide Research Volunteer Directory (RVD) within at risk communities. The RVD will support research that aims to: 1) reduce risk of developing AD/ADRD, 2) promote sensitive care, and 3) address the health economics of ADRD. Community partnerships in metro Detroit and Grand Rapids enhance the reach and depth of CLRC activities. CLRC specific aims address the following: Aim 1: Enhance outreach, recruitment and retention of MENA and Latino communities to foster active participation in AD/ADRD research; Aim 2: Disseminate scientific knowledge of techniques for recruiting and retaining at risk population-representative research participants; Aim 3: Develop educational materials to provide the MENA and Latino communities with feedback on research advances and to inform their engagement with the healthcare system. The CLRC will continue to advance knowledge about factors affecting research participation of at risk communities in AD/ADRD research. By engaging each community in a partnership and incorporating links with health professionals, we aim to advance scholarship on AD/ADRD among at risk populations to promote sustained change around relevant to AD/ADRDs health disparities.