Paris Williams
Research Mentor(s): Briana Ratliff
Mentor Department: Epidemiology
Authors: Paris Williams , Briana Mezuk, Deborah Robinson
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 103
Abstract
The National Survey of American Life (NSAL) is the largest community-based survey focused on the intersection between health and ethnicity as it relates to the effects of psychosocial factors on the cognitive aging of black Americans. The initial study was conducted in 2001, and assessed mental health, social determinants, and health behaviors of a large (>6,000) sample of adolescent and adult African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and adult white Americans of European descent. Now, over 20 years later, NSAL will follow-up with those same participants to investigate changes in the responses from a sample of ~2,600 surviving to propel the research that identifies risk and protective factors of Alzheimer’s and age-related disorders (ADRD). Our goal is to discover and implement preventative measures in the Black population. One workgroup under the NSAL umbrella focuses on recruitment, seeking ways to engage a new sample of the original participants, over two decades after the original survey. This recruitment strategy will begin with leveraging relocation software to identify the contact information for the living participants. It is imperative to implement ethical considerations when working with human subjects, and to incentivize participation to increase involvement in the longitudinal study. In an effort to craft an engaging recruitment strategy, this workgroup will work closely with the Community Advisory Board (CAB) of the Healthier Black Elders Center (HBEC), including hosting discussion groups with older Black adults and reviewing study materials to identify messaging, barriers and facilitators to research participation for this group. The feedback received from the HBEC will also be compared to- and integrated with- recruitment strategies recommended by the National Institute of Aging through ADORE. The anticipated results of this effort include (1) creation of engaging recruitment materials and (2) identification of informed consent strategies that will benefit the broader study. The NSAL seeks to clarify pathways of risk and resilience for ADRD, leveraging a unique data source, to achieve its mission to better the lives of Black Americans, and improve the health of aging adults in marginalized communities.
