NIA Award

Posted: Oct. 11, 2007

IFAS has received funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to conduct a pilot study to evaluate the acceptability and prognostic value of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) in older residents and the staff of independent housing and assisted living settings in a CCRC. The SPBB measures lower extremity physical performance (tests of balance, rising from a chair, and gait velocity) and has been found in clinical testing to be highly predictive of future functional decline and institutionalization. The utility of the SPPB in residential settings, however, has not been well studied.

This research project will assess the ability of diverse CCRC staff to be effectively trained in utilization of the SPPB, and the predictive value of these performance tests in terms of onset or progression of disability and transfer to a higher level of care within the CCRC. In addition, this project will begin to explore staff-to-staff communications within the CCRC that will permit effective communication of findings from SPPB assessments to clinical staff who are positioned to act on this information. IFAS will partner with the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society's CCRC in Waconia, Minnesota as the study site.

As greater emphasis is placed on maintenance of independence in the community, it will become important for housing managers, facility administrators, directors of nursing, wellness coordinators, and other aging services professionals to accurately identify older persons at high risk of function decline in order to appropriately allocate services and other resources in a manner that prolongs independence in the community. The SPPB may be a useful tool for conducting functional assessments and monitoring residents' status.

This study, which is funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, is the first AAHSA project to receive NIH funding. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Jack Guralnik, Branch Chief of Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry at the National Institute on Aging.

For more information contact Helaine Resnick