Mission and Demographics

The focus of the Center for Research on Applied Gerontology is to support research aimed at the development and evaluation of interventions that will allow older individuals to maintain independence, mobility, and a high quality of life. The Center currently has 20 appointed faculty representing 5 departments and 3 schools at UAB.

Center Research and Infrastructure

The Center’s research examines the mechanisms of age-related cognitive and visual declines and seeks to improve cognition, vision, and everyday functions via interventions. The Center has a Driving Simulator Facility, a Management Core, a Pilot Projects Core, and an Information Dissemination Core, and is affiliated with the UAB Driving Assessment Clinic and the Center for Aging.

The Center supports several ongoing projects. An R01 project, “Long-term Mobility Outcomes for Older Adults” (Ball, PI), involves the continuation of an earlier Center project that evaluated screening assessments of driving competence among older adults. One of these assessments had previously been found to be predictive of crash involvement (Owsley et al., JAMA, 1998). It was incorporated in a screening battery piloted among 2,800 older drivers presenting for license renewal at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, and has subsequently been re-evaluated five years later on the same drivers during the licensing process. A brief battery of cognitive assessments has subsequently been developed which has been found to be predictive of prospective crash risk in Maryland. Ongoing data collection is tracking the impact of functional abilities on not only crash risk, but driving cessation, falls, and other markers of reduced mobility. “ACTIVE Phase III: Cognitive Training and Everyday Competence in the Elderly,” a multi-site clinical trial (Ball, UAB PI), is evaluating the long-term impact of three cognitive intervention programs designed to improve cognition and cognitively demanding everyday activities among older adults. Initial intervention-specific improvements in cognition were found (Ball et al., JAMA, 2002), and results from a fifth annual follow-up were recently published (Willis et al., JAMA, 2006). In addition, funding was obtained for a secondary analysis of crash data for the ACTIVE participants, (Ball, PI) and analyses are in progress to evaluate the impact of training on reducing crash risk among older drivers. “Improvement of Visual Processing in Older Adults,” a MERIT award (Ball, PI), has recently been renewed to investigate interventions to improve cognition in older adults. This program is currently evaluating the impact of cognitive training alone, aerobic exercise alone, or the combination of cognitive training and exercise on the everyday abilities of older adults. In collaboration with the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Harrell, PI) the Center is conducting a new longitudinal study entitled "Everyday Functional Performance in MCI" (Wadley, PI). The goal of this project is to examine everyday functions with direct impact on autonomy and safety (e.g., driving and financial skills) among individuals at risk for dementia and functional decline by virtue of mild cognitive impairment. Finally, in conjunction with Visual Awareness, Inc., through several NIA-funded SBIR Phase II awards (Keirn, PI), and in collaboration with State Farm Insurance Company, drivers aged 75 or older in Alabama are being invited to participate in an assessment of their functional abilities to determine driving competence. The follow-up study is evaluating the impact of improved cognition as a result of cognitive training. Results will be analyzed relative to both insurance claims and state crash records with the goal of developing a program of self-assessment and intervention for those drivers in the high-risk categories.

For additional information:

Director: Karlene Ball, PhD

Email: kball@uab.edu

Phone: 205-975-2296

Co-Director: Cynthia Owsley, PhD

Email: owsley@uab.edu

Phone: 205-325-8635

Associate Director: Virginia Wadley, PhD

Email: vwadley@uab.edu

Phone: 205-975-2294

Approved by: Karlene Ball, PhD, Director

Date: April 24, 2008

Click here to return to the SOM Research Web Site's home page.