IOA Research Center

Institute on Aging's Research Center, founded in 1988, links the research, clinical, and health service experts of Institute on Aging and the University of California, San Francisco. This partnership of academic excellence with clinical and research expertise creates the foundation for interdisciplinary applied research in health care, community-based participatory research, and program evaluation. The Center also works in partnership with other community-based health care organizations and academic institutions to conduct studies in line with the mission of IOA: to enhance the quality of life for adults as they age.

Research studies at IOA focus on issues of importance to the health and well-being of older adults. Our work seeks to understand interventions that promote independence and maintain functional ability.

We emphasize conducting research and program evaluation that can be applied to improving the day-to-day lives of older adults. This approach, combined with the expertise and experience of our faculty, provides a unique contribution to the community.

Current and Recent Studies

Linking Affordable Housing with Comprehensive Health Care Services
This project studies the new Affordable Housing Plus Services (AHPS) model at IOA's Senior Campus. This 18-month study will 1) describe and compare the first cohorts of residents accepted with a comparison group of those eligible, but not chosen by lottery; 2) follow these cohorts at periodic intervals to determine health status, service utilization, and quality of life (e.g., measures of well-being, sense of loneliness and isolation); and 3) discuss implications of the early findings for program development and longer term outcome studies. This project is currently underway and is funded by a grant from the SCAN Foundation (Grant #11-007).
Learn more about IOA's Senior Campus

The PLIE Project – Preventing Loss of Independence Through Exercise
This is a collaborative study between IOA's Department of Psychiatry and the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Institute on Aging (IOA). The primary objective is to perform a 36-week test of PLIÉ in approximately individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia in order to examine issues related to compliance and safety and to estimate effect sizes for a larger study. This study is currently underway at IOA's Irene Swindell's Adult Day Center.
Learn more about IOA's Adult Day Care

Medication Oversight Project at Institute on Aging
Under a grant from the Kaiser Permanente Local Community Grants Program, IOA's Friendship Line Medication Oversight Project has been improved and expanded. Improvements to MOP include 1) a formalized assessment process; 2) an improved medication tracking system; 3) an improved medication review system; 4) a larger emphasis on training for interns; and 5) a shift towards credible data collection for the purpose of tracking outcomes. Enrollees of the program have benefitted from close supervision of their medication regimes and have shown overall improvement in medication compliance.
Learn more about IOA's Medication Oversight Project

Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention
Under a grant for the California Mental Health Service Authority, Institute on Aging's Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention is expanding its capacity to provide early suicide intervention and prevention services, locally and regionally, to a diverse population of older adults and share its considerable experience. Over the next several years, this grant will support CESP to: 1) augment and strengthen its innovative senior warm line/hotline—The Friendship Line—so it can best complement the work of traditional hotlines operating in the region with its specialized senior services; 2) extend and develop CESP’s suicide prevention efforts in California's Superior region in collaboration with county agencies and aging services organizations Northern California’s rural communities; and 3) develop a forum with colleagues in suicide prevention efforts throughout the state to address the special needs of older adults, to articulate best practices, to identify measurables that evaluate the effectiveness of hotline/warm lines, and community-based models for purposes of continuous improvement of suicide prevention efforts on behalf of older adults.
Learn more about IOA's Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention

Adult Day Health Center Participation and Health-Related Quality of Life
The purpose of this study was to assess the association between Adult Day Health Center (ADHC) participation and health-related quality of life.

Case-controlled prospective study utilizing the Medical Outcomes Survey Form 36 (SF-36) to compare newly enrolled participants from 16 ADHC programs with comparable community-dwelling older adults who did not attend an ADHC. Assessments were conducted at study enrollment, 6 and 12 months.

ADHC participation may enhance older adults’ quality of life. Quality of life may be a key measure to inform care planning, program improvement, and policy development of ADHC.