Aging centers on campus

Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC)
School of Medicine and Public Health
https://www.adrc.wisc.edu/

Mission: The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center supports researchers in their pursuit of answers that will lead to improved diagnosis and care for patients while, at the same time, focusing on the program’s long-term goal — finding a way to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.

How they engage people on campus:

• Maintain a pool of research volunteers, a repository of cognitive test data, brain tissue samples, cerebral spinal fluid and blood samples, and brain scans
• Offer training and mentoring for young doctors and researchers who study Alzheimer’s disease and aging
• Host an annual research day and educational lecture series

How they engage people in the community:

• Connect people with opportunities to participate in studies
• Offer educational events and classes for research participants and members of the public
• Hold community-based educational events, especially in marginalized communities of Wisconsin
• Organize the Precious Memories Choir for people with memory loss and their caregivers
• Organize the Mind Readers book club, exercise, and other events

Center for Aging Research and Education (CARE)
School of Nursing
https://care.nursing.wisc.edu/ 

Mission: CARE supports discoveries that improve aging, and builds the skills and capacity of those who care for older adults.

How they engage people on campus:

• Involve faculty, staff, and graduate students across disciplines in discussions and collaborations furthering aging research, education, and workforce training through the CARE Network and Affiliate program
• Develop and facilitate opportunities to learn about older adult health for nursing and health sciences students, including through clinical placements, community-based learning, and Careers in Aging Week
• Connect campus partners to resources and opportunities related to aging research, education, workforce training, and community service

How they engage people in the community:

• Organize and facilitate Madison and Rural Boards of Older Adult Advisors, providing input on health research
• Recruit care settings as clinical sites, organizations as service-learning partners, and individuals as participants in course activities
• Provide training resources to the eldercare workforce, including workshops for direct care staff; an online geriatric care residency program for nurses in long term care; and toolkits for audiences ranging from hospital staff, health sciences instructors, group home staff, family caregivers, and community planners

Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA)
College of Letters & Science, Office of Vice Chancellor for Research
https://cdha.wisc.edu/ 

Mission: Through the integration of research, training, and teaching, CDHA aims to increase the understanding of social and behavioral processes related to health and aging.

How they engage people on campus:

• Support research and graduate training relating to the demography, economics, and epidemiology of aging
• Through a faculty affiliate program, offer pilot research grants to seed new lines of research in the demography of aging and health; develop innovative research networks within and beyond CDHA; and help affiliates produce strong NIH grant applications through project management, technical support, and mentorship
• Offer pre- and post-doctoral training, including two seminar series

How they engage people in the community:

• Host a weekly Demography Seminar bringing in scholars from across the globe to share their research and insights
• Host several special events and conferences annually, bringing scholars at the forefront of a number of aging research areas to campus

Community Academic Aging Research Network (CAARN)
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health
https://caarn.wisc.edu/

Mission: CAARN brings together academic researchers and community partners to conduct research related to assistive technology for safe and healthy aging. CAARN has expertise in geriatrics, engineering, public health, translational, recruitment science, and community engaged equity research.

How they engage people on campus:

• Provide training; venues for networking; assistance with grant writing, research design, recruitment, and retention strategies; and resources to facilitate engagement in community-engaged aging research

How they engage people in the community:

• Serve and work with underrepresented and underserved communities through local organizational partnerships, including:
  • Rural aging offices, Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs), and public health agencies
  • African American churches, advocacy groups, clinics, and foundations in Dane and Milwaukee counties

Institute on Aging
Office of Vice Chancellor for Research, School of Medicine and Public Health
https://aging.wisc.edu/

Mission: To promote the health and well-being of the adult and aging populations in our local community, state, and society at large through excellence in multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Underscoring the salience of this mission is the demographic context: the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is aging adults.

How they engage people on campus:

• Have IOA faculty affiliates across campus
• Administer the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) longitudinal study funded by NIA, which provides training opportunities
• IOA affiliates and MIDUS investigators (faculty, graduate students, and postdocs) lead studies on integrative pathways to morbidity (e.g., cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis) and mortality, while filling in sociodemographic factors, stress exposures, psychosocial factors, biomarkers (including genomics), and brain-based assessments

How they engage people in the community:

• Organize the annual Colloquium on Aging, which includes a health resource fair and poster session
• Host “Eloquence and Eminence,” a lecture series featuring emeritus faculty known for their teaching excellence and scholarship
• Translate research findings for public audiences, via the Aging News newsletter and Recent Findings from MIDUS webpage

Life Span
Division of Extension
https://aging.extension.wisc.edu/

Mission: Life Span programs support individuals and families as they transition through the aging process by providing programming and resources on family caregiving, healthy aging, end-of-life programming, and by building local partnerships to create aging-friendly communities.

How they engage people on campus:

• Connect campus partners to community members and stakeholders across the state to support research and program development in the field of aging
• Partner with investigators and centers to disseminate research-informed information to communities and elevate community needs and perspectives

How they engage people in the community:

• Offer programs on aging mastery, caregiver support, planning for end-of-life needs, and general interest topics
• Catalyze policy / systems / environment change through education and facilitation in partnership with community leaders, organizations, and coalitions

VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Partners with the UW–Madison Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology https://www.va.gov/GRECC/index.asp 

Mission: The GRECCs have these main missions:

• To build new knowledge in geriatric care through research
• To improve health care for older Veterans through the development of innovative clinical models of care
• To provide training and education on best practices in caring for older adults, for students in healthcare disciplines and VA staff
• To staff and support geriatric primary care and specialty care clinics at VA

How they engage people on campus:

• Offer a two-year VA Fellowship in Advanced Geriatrics providing opportunities for physicians, dentists, and post-doctoral associated health professionals to develop expertise in geriatrics
• Conduct collaborative research
• Oversee weekly geriatric core curriculum seminar and other geriatrics and aging conferences (open to campus)

How they engage people in the community:

• Offer the Geriatric Scholars Program workforce development program
• Participate and serve on multiple national VA networks that focus on geriatric telemedicine, transitional care, dementia care, and dysphagia care best practices
• Participate in outreach work promoting health equity (education, consultation) with Wisconsin Tribal Nations to improve geriatric and dementia care

Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute (WAI)
School of Medicine and Public Health
https://wai.wisc.edu/

Mission: To advance health equity through research, education, clinical care, and community engagement for all people impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

How they engage people on campus:

• Through the Summer Externship program, offer education, preceptor, service learning, and internships for health professions students
• Organize the New Friends Program, which pairs UW–Madison students and people living with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, or other dementias
• House WRAP, one of the largest and longest-running studies of individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease
• Partner with ADRC on the IEA Innovation Fund, which provides direct seed funding to ADRC, WAI, and Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology investigators, staff, and program teams

How they engage people in the community:

• Offer continuing medical education, lectures, webcasts, and other information to health professionals
• Support memory clinics statewide to promote early diagnosis and treatment, and to support caregivers
• Deliver culturally appropriate education, training, and outreach programs to providers, people living with dementia, and family caregivers in the Milwaukee area
• Facilitate the WAI Milwaukee Community Advisory Board, which provides input on research and community projects and includes family caregivers, research participants, community gatekeepers, and people living with dementia
• Provide training to healthcare and social services professionals on addressing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
• In affiliation with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, provide training and technical assistance to county, Tribal, and other providers of services to persons with Alzheimer’s disease; collaborate to create needed services; and collect and disseminate information on Alzheimer’s disease, including public awareness and public policy initiatives