If you know of a current or future training opportunity, please forward the information on to Annie Mueller at AMuelle2@uccs.edu. Thank you in advance for your contribution!

Training opportunities are divided into the following categories:

Web-based training
APA Videos
Conferences and Workshops

   Web-based Trainings

Internet-based Education on End-Of-Life Issues for Mental Health Providers
Format: Online continuing education program
Price: $30/module (APA members), $40/module (non-members)
CE Credits: 2 per module, 20 total
Link: http://www.apa.org/ce/eol.html
Information: The American Psychological Association (APA) and its collaborator, eNURSING llc , is very pleased and proud to present a new ten-module, online, continuing education program for psychologists, social workers, hospice volunteers, clergy and others who work with people facing end of life (EOL) issues and concerns.
Modules include: Overview of End-Of-Life Issues for the Mental Health Provider, Assessment and Treatment of Psychological Distress near the End of Life, Assessment and Treatment of Pain at the End of Life, Diagnosis and Treatment of Cognitive Changes at the End of Life, Grief and Bereavement, Religious and Spiritual Issues At the End of Life, Family Caregiving Issues at the End of Life, Teamwork in End-Of-Life Care, Law and Ethics Associated with Care at the End of Life, Advance Care Planning at the End of Life

Positive Aging: An Innovative Approach to Counseling Older Adults
Format: Online introductory workshop
Price: $80
CEs: 4
Link: http://webclients.captus.com/apa/catalog.htm
Information: This introductory workshop teaches principles of Positive Aging to optimize coping in later life. Specific strategies are described for the range of late-life problems, including adjusting to long-term care, caregiving, and death and dying. Evidence-supported geriatric counseling is examined from a Positive Aging perspective, and meaning-based life span therapies are introduced as techniques to help transform the problems of aging into opportunities for well-being and life enhancement.

What Psychologists Should Know About Working with Older Adults
Format: Online intermediate workshop
Price: $120
CEs: 6
Link: http://webclients.captus.com/apa/catalog.htm
Information: This intermediate workshop will increase the competencies of psychologists interested in working with older adults, and their families and caregivers. Topics include demographic characteristics and life contexts of older adults assessment and treatment of dementia, anxiety, and depression; common behavioral health issues; private practice strategies in working with older adults; filing for Medicare.

Behavior Management, including Prevention of Aggressive Behavior and De-escalation Techniques
Format: Online course
Price: $29.95
CEs: 1.5
Link: http://cohealth.org/items.course.php?floor=&tagid=Array&courseid=1
Information: This course covers how you, as a staff member or consultant in a LTC facility, can better care for an individual exhibiting behavior problems. It emphasizes the five stages in behavior management plans and provides an overview of the federal mandates regarding handling behavior problems in the elderly. Then, from a clinical perspective, the 3 D's - depression, dementia and delirium - are compared and contrasted, followed by an elaboration of the different triggers or causes of problem behavior in LTC settings. The basic principles of behavior management are reviewed, followed by recommended interventions for specific problematic behaviors. Upon completing this course, you should have the tools you will need to care plan and address residents' behavior problems.

Use and Benefits of Health and Behavior Codes in Long Term Care for Psychologists
Format: Online course
Price: $39.95
CEs: 1.50 credits
Online Price: $39.95
Link: http://cohealth.org/items.course.php?floor=&tagid=Array&courseid=9
Information: This course provides a complete introduction to the health and behavior CPT codes for psychologists. These codes, for the first time, allow psychologists to provide assessment and treatment services to Medicare beneficiaries using their medical diagnoses, instead of psychiatric diagnoses. The course provides detailed descriptions of the six new CPT codes, and much more. From an integrated care perspective, there are recommended assessment tools, explanations of what elements comprise treatment sessions, instructions on documenting medical necessity, biopsychosocial interventions, and recommended readings and resources. The closing section on reimbursement explains why H&B interventions pay at 80%, and why Medicaid crossover occurs in some states. After participating in this course, psychologists unfamiliar with these codes will have new practice development tools, new reimbursement opportunities, and a means for greater collaboration with the primary care team.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Older Adults
Format: Book with online or paper and pencil test (60 items)
Price: Members: $90 test, $39.95 book; Non-members: $120 test, $49.95 book, 6 CE credits
Authors of text: Hinrichsen, G.A. & Clougherty, K.F. (2006)
Link: http://www.apa.org/ce/1080114.html
Information: Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Older Adults is the first clinical book on how to conduct Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) with persons 65 years of age and older. This growing cohort in the United States is expected to rise substantially after 2010, when the baby boom cohort enters that age category. This course is designed to help you: Recognize basic issues in gerontology, geropsychology, and late life depression; Learn the structure, goals, strategies, and techniques of interpersonal psychotherapy and associated research from studies of mixed age populations; Learn the structure, goals, strategies, and techniques of interpersonal psychotherapy as applied to older adults along with associated research; Know how interpersonal psychotherapy was conducted with older adults through the use of cases studies; and Understand common problems confronted by therapists who are learning how to conduct interpersonal psychotherapy with older adults.

Building Successful Mental Health Practices in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Price: $29.95
Author: Joseph M. Casciani, PhD
Format: Mini course; online
Link: http://www.cohealth.org/items.course.php?floor=&tagid=5&courseid=36
Information: This mini course lays out the most essential steps for the mental health practitioner to establish and build a practice with nursing home residents. Sections cover specialty groups (billable and non-billable), collaboration with other departments, inservices, behavior medicine programs, and ancillary strategies, such as identifying residents on admission who will benefit from services.

The Benefits of Collaboration between Behavioral Health and Rehabilitation in LTC: The CoHealth Model
Price: $19.95
Author: Joseph M. Casciani, PhD
Format: Mini course; online
Link: http://www.cohealth.org/items.course.php?floor=&tagid=5&courseid=30
Information: This mini course gives an overview of what successful collaborative programs look like between behavioral health specialists and rehab departments in a SNF. This will help the mental health professional and rehab therapist better understand patient barriers to treatment, and how collaboration may overcome these barriers.

A Comprehensive Approach to Establishing a Mental Health Practice in LTC Settings
Price: $29.95
CE Credits: 1
Author: Joseph M. Casciani, PhD
Format: Full on-line course
Link: http://www.cohealth.org/items.course.php?floor=&tagid=5&courseid=50
Information: In this 1 hour course, you will learn the essential administrative steps and details involved in establishing a practice in long term care settings. Although it does not provide an in depth review of clinical proficiencies and knowledge requirements for working with older adults, it does offer a close look at what may be offered to client facilities and residents, including clinical programs, psychological testing, and other billable and non-billable procedures. Equal or perhaps greater emphasis, however, is on practice building opportunities and efficiencies, including contracting, triage scales, consultation, documentation, paid staff positions, and billing arrangements. The course is packed with practical, nuts-and-bolts details needed by the mental health practitioner who is new to these settings, and reviews other valuable resources and readings for those choosing to pursue this rewarding practice opportunity.

Long-Term Care Intensive Train-the-Trainer Series on End-of-Life Care – free of charge!
Type: Powerpoint training modules
Sponsor: Michigan Department of Community Health Long-Term Care Initiative, Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, and Hospice of Michigan
Link: http://www.iog.wayne.edu/training_endoflife.php
Contact information: Dr. Jennifer Mendez at jmendez@wayne.edu.

Description: The training modules consist of Microsoft Powerpoint slide shows for presentation and Microsoft Word documents for printing. Those interested in obtaining the End-of-Life Care training modules may fill out and submit the online application form to request copies, which will be sent free of charge via e-mail to educators. There are six modules in the series: Historical Perspectives of Dying and Death in America, Ethical and Legal Concerns, Pain Management, Communication Skills at End-of-Life, Imminent Death, Grief, Loss, and Bereavement

Long-Term Care Intensive Train-the-Trainer Series on Managing Difficult Behaviors – free of charge!
Type: Powerpoint training modules
Sponsor: Michigan Department of Community Health Long-Term Care Initiative, Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, and Hospice of Michigan
Link: http://www.iog.wayne.edu/training_difficultbehaviors.php
Contact information: Dr. Jennifer Mendez at jmendez@wayne.edu.
Description: The training modules consist of Microsoft Powerpoint slide shows for presentation and Microsoft Word documents for printing. Those interested in obtaining the Managing Difficult Behaviors training modules may fill out and submit the application form to request copies, which will be sent free of charge via e-mail to educators. There are six modules in the series: Putting the Person First in Dementia Care, The Environment, Enhancing the Bathing Experience, Assisting a Person with Dementia with Activities of Daily Living, Mealtimes and the Person with Dementia, Meeting the Challenges of Catastrophic Reactions

The Deadly Triangle: The Relationship between Depression, Alcoholism, Suicide and Older Adults
Format: Free online presentation
Presenter: Patrick Arbore
Link: http://icohere-presentations.com/Presentations/ASA/TheDeadlyTriangle/player.html
Information: The American Society on Aging, under contract to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, offers free training and technical assistance on abuse and misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) for providers in nonprofit and governmental agencies in California to help them better serve their older clients.

Alcohol and Aging: Obstacles to Identification
Format: Free online presentation
Presenter: Patrick Arbore
Link: http://icohere-presentations.com/Presentations/ASA/AlcoholAndAging/player.html
Information: The American Society on Aging, under contract to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, offers free training and technical assistance on abuse and misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) for providers in nonprofit and governmental agencies in California to help them better serve their older clients.

Communication Skills to Create Conversations with Older Adults Who May be Abusing/Misusing Substances
Format: Free online presentation
Presenter: Patrick Arbore
Link: http://icohere-presentations.com/Presentations/ASA/CommunicationSkills/player.html
Information: The American Society on Aging, under contract to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, offers free training and technical assistance on abuse and misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) for providers in nonprofit and governmental agencies in California to help them better serve their older clients.

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
Format: Online presentation
Presenter: Dr. John Ratey
Link: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=78298585
Information: This MetLife MindAlert lecture delves into Dr. John Ratey’s  groundbreaking and fascinating investigation into the transformative effects of physical exercise on the brain. In the area of cognitive performance, moving muscles produces proteins that play roles in our highest thought processes. Exercise stimulates the brain’s gray matter to produce what Ratey calls "Miracle-Gro" for the brain. "I can't understate how important regular exercise is in improving the function and performance of the brain," he says. "It's such a wonderful medicine."

Intervening with Late-Life Cognition: Lessons From the ACTIVE Study
Format: Free online web seminar
Presenter: Dr. Michael Marsiske
Link: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=95734
Information: Cognitive intervention programs hold intriguing promise for improving critical skills in reasoning, memory, and speed of processing among older adults. In this MetLife MindAlert Lecture, Michael Marsiske, PhD, discusses highlights from the Advanced Cognitive Training in Independent and Vital Elders (ACTIVE) study. The study identified effective mental training showing long-lasting improvements in memory, reasoning and speed of processing five years after the intervention. Dr. Marsiske offers a framework for studying brain plasticity and discusses the challenge of transferring skills practiced in formal intervention programs to daily activities.

Art and Dementia
Format: Free video web seminar
Presenter: Dr. Bruce Miller
Link: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=98537
Information: In this lecture Dr. Bruce Miller explores creativity associated with the visual arts. A definition of art is offered and several theories regarding art are described.  This is followed by a discussion of the right versus left brain systems involved with the production of a painting.  Subsequently, what is known about the brain organization in artists versus non-artists is outlined.  Neurodegenerative disorders have been an unexpected model for thinking about creativity, particularly frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) where a small but significant number of individuals develop a new interest and ability in art in the beginning stages of their illness.  Therefore, art in FTLD versus Alzheimer's disease (AD) is described.

Building Awareness and Actions to Promote Brain Health
Format: Free video web seminar
Presenter: Stephen McConnell, Michael Patterson, and Henry Mahncke
Link: http://events.streamlogics.net/asaging/may07-07/index.asp
Information: For anyone looking for thought-provoking background to help shape a message about the need for programs that will keep elders’ minds active and healthy, the American Society on Aging announces a new online resource. A streaming video web cast of a session from the 2007 ASA-NCOA Joint Conference presents findings from surveys conducted by ASA, the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP on public perceptions about elders’ brain health.

   APA Videos

Title: Adapting Psychotherapy for Working with Older Adults - Bob Knight, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310856.html
Information: In Adapting Psychotherapy for Working with Older Adults, Dr. Bob G. Knight demonstrates his approach to adjusting therapy for working with this growing population. Most adaptations to therapy with older clients involve the nature of presenting problems typically brought in by older adults and the therapist–client relationship. Older adults face problems such as chronic illness, grief, and cognitive impairment at a much higher rate than younger clients. In addition, age differences between client and therapist and generational differences in acceptance of seeking help call for the need to make adaptations in approach.

Title: Caregiving – Tim Elliot, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310751.html
Information: In Caregiving, Dr. Tim Elliott demonstrates his approach to counseling people who provide care to those in need. Caregiving is an emotionally draining and demanding role, meaning that caregivers often require help in learning to meet their own needs.

Title: Depression with Older Adults – Peter A. Lichtenberg, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310762.html
Information: In Depression With Older Adults, Dr. Peter A. Lichtenberg demonstrates his multimodal approach to treating this common presenting problem in older clients. There are many possible contributing factors to depression in this population, as issues of grief, loss, and physical decline are unavoidable aspects of later life.

Title: Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Older Adults with Depression – Gregory A. Hinrichsen, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310796.html
Information: In Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Older Adults With Depression, Gregory A. Hinrichsen demonstrates his approach to working with older clients suffering with this common disorder. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a time-limited therapy that has been found to be effective in the treatment of depression in different age groups, including older adults. IPT focuses on one or two interpersonally relevant problems including interpersonal role disputes, role transitions, grief, and interpersonal deficits.

Title: Older Couples – Paula Hartman-Stein, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310768.html
Information: In Older Couples, Dr. Paula Hartman-Stein demonstrates her approach to conducting therapy with couples in their later years. Working with older couples involves many issues not common in therapy with younger people, including issues surrounding illness, cognitive impairment, and physical decline, all of which generally cause some stress in marital relationships. Hartman-Stein's approach is to teach couples better ways to cope with the challenges of aging with the resources they have available.

Title: Parenting Our Elderly Parents – Patricia J. Pitta, Ph.D., ABPP
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310775.html
Information: In Parenting Our Elderly Parents, Dr. Patricia J. Pitta demonstrates her approach to working with clients who are in the position of caretaker for their aging parents. Therapy with these clients is challenging, as it involves the family system, parental relationships, changing power dynamics between parents and children, and coping with cognitive and physical decline in loved ones. Goals in this type of therapy include helping to realign power in relationships, identifying and resolving intergenerational conflicts, and helping caregivers to get support for themselves.

Title: Sex Therapy for Middle Age and Older Adults – Barry W. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310727.html
Information: Sex Therapy for Middle Age and Older Adults illustrates Dr. Barry W. McCarthy's integrative couples approach to sex therapy. This subspecialty of psychotherapy integrates sexuality issues with general therapy, focusing on the importance of sexuality in a balanced life. Dr. McCarthy's approach is to help middle-aged and older clients learn new ways to experience sexuality and eroticism instead of accepting the common notion that sexuality plays a smaller role as we age.

Title: Treating Alzheimer’s Disease Through Caregiver Family Therapy – Sara Honn Qualls, Ph.D.
Price: $99.95 (nonmember), $69.96 (member/affiliate)
Link: http://www.apa.org/videos/4310741.html
Information: In Treating Alzheimer's Disease Through Caregiver Family Therapy, Dr. Sara Honn Qualls demonstrates her approach to helping families care for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. Caregiver Family Therapy (CFT) assists families with recognizing, interpreting, and taking action to address symptoms of growing cognitive impairment while continuing to meet the needs of multiple family members.

Aging in America – National Council on Aging-American Society on Aging 2010 Conference
Date: March 15-19, 2010
Location: Chicago, IL
Link: http://www.agingconference.org/AiA10/general_info.cfm
Information: The NCOA-ASA Conference, with 4,000 attendees, is recognized as a showcase for programs and projects that can be replicated, a forum for policy discussion and advocacy, and a prime source of information on new research findings in aging. It is the largest gathering of a diverse, multidisciplinary community of professionals from the fields of aging, healthcare and education, along with business leaders from across the United States. Attendees come from around the country and abroad to find the answers, the experts, the research, the best practices, and the most comprehensive educational offerings available to professionals. It is the place to be if you want to learn about what’s new, what works, and how you can make it work
to respond to the ever-growing demands of serving an aging population. The conference provides attendees with the opportunity to network with new and old friends, gain insight from voices from the front line and find new grassroots and national partners for advocacy.

The Gerontological Society of America – 62^nd Annual Scientific Meeting
Date: November 18-22, 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Link: http://www.geron.org/

Assisted Living in the Context of Alternate Housing Options (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: The rapid growth of assisted living (AL) is now recognized as having been the beginning of a wide and evolving range of housing and service options for older adults and adults with disabilities. These options have expanded beyond initial models of AL and provide an ongoing challenge for researchers, policy makers, and industry leaders who are striving to respond to changing consumer demand and expressed preferences.  At this juncture, it is important that AL researchers and other stakeholders better understand new and anticipated models of services and housing; examine the role of today’s AL in the context of these new models; critically consider the ability of AL to address issues such as affordability, availability of services, and aging in place; and address the new research needs that are emerging as a consequence of the changing landscape. This workshop is organized by the Assisted Living Special Interest Group (AL-SIG).  It will examine the ongoing evolution of AL in the context of alternate housing options. The half-day workshop will be comprised of three panels of experts on the topics of (1) affordability in AL, (2) bringing services into AL, and (3) new models of supportive housing that embrace the larger community.
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops

Evaluating Programs Delivered at Multiple Sites: Integrating Results in a Geriatrics Education Center Context (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: Understanding the concepts and mechanics of multiple site evaluation at the consortium level is of high importance.  Representatives from the National Training and Coordination Collaborative (NTACC) will be discussing multi-site evaluation to enhance the GECs’ ability to meet ongoing grant requirements.  As HRSA grantees, the GECs are tasked with 5 statutory purposes, two of which are to improve training of health professionals in geriatrics and to provide students with clinical training (in geriatrics) in hospitals, senior centers, etc.  As such, GEC-designed curriculum aims to improve the practice of physicians, nurses, and various other health practitioners working with the elderly.  Sessions are delivered in several settings (hospitals, university conference rooms, virtual-distance) by GEC partners, often geographically dispersed in a region or state.  GECs will learn the advantages of coordinating data sets from several sites, taking into consideration varied programming (falls prevention, diabetes management) and contextual factors (organizational, relational) in their analysis.  The need for stakeholder buy-in and support, a relational facet influencing both programming and evaluation, will be highlighted along with ways to build relationships through data-driven decision making.  Along with context considerations, maximizing potential in multi-site evaluations requires the standardization of some measures.  This can occur at the front end (sound instrumentation development, agreements on common measures) and the back end (coding schemes and analytic techniques that accommodate pooled analysis) of evaluation projects.  Two exercises will focus on instrumentation critique, using actual measures, and the interpretation of qualitative items dealing with reported practice change among health professionals.
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops

Introduction to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: This half-day workshop is specially designed to introduce the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to the GSA membership. The HRS is a large-scale longitudinal study of labor force participation and health transitions that individuals undergo toward the end of their work lives and in the years that follow.  The survey collects information about income, assets, labor participation, pensions, health insurance, disability, physical health and functioning, cognitive functioning, and family support.  This workshop will consist of lectures designed to provide a general overview of the HRS including information about the survey design, content, supplemental studies, data products, website resources, and the construction of analytic files.  Particular emphasis will be on new initiatives to collect physical measure, biomarker, and psychosocial data.  After attending this workshop, each participant will gain enough knowledge to construct an analytic file and begin to conduct analyses.
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops

Methods for Studying Older Persons at the Neighborhood Level (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: In 2000, 47% of the world’s population lived in cities, and it is estimated that by 2030 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. The process of urbanization is intimately linked to other processes that shape the experience of living in cities, such as the transition to post-industrial economies or issues of migration, both within countries and trans-nationally. The impact of these processes on the lives of older persons is under-researched; that which has been completed points to the importance of the neighborhood environment - social, physical and institutional - as vital for determining health and the quality of social relationships for older people. This workshop will provide an intensive introduction to the issues facing researchers who wish to study these issues, the best methods for conducting such studies, and ways of partnering with neighborhood level initiatives designed to improve the lives of older person. We will also look at issues of funding these efforts and publishing the results from these projects, as well as building collaborative efforts to conduct comparative studies across cities and nations.
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops

The Science of Translation: Can Implementation of Evidence-based Interventions into the Community also be "good science"? (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: In this workshop we will describe a number of scientific dilemmas in translating intervention programs to community settings, and current efforts to bridge the science-translation gap. Issues and barriers will be discussed in presentations by L. Burgio and M. Mittelman.  K. Hepburn and M. Reid will discuss various strategies for moving interventions from clinical trials to feasible use in the community.  The last two presentations will focus on Community-based Participatory Research methods (CBPR). J. Gaugler will discuss the assumptions, methods, and potential for use of CBPR in translating caregiver interventions, and C. Sampselle will describe a specific application of CBPR using computer-based technology. The last hour of the workshop will be dedicated to a roundtable discussion including the presenters and the audience. A list of common issues in translation will be distributed to the audience; however, the direction of the discussion will be determined by the audience.
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops

Using, Adapting, and Modifying Existing Measures for Studies of Diverse Population Groups (Pre-conference workshop at GSA)
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Cost: Half-day: GSA member, $70; Non-member, $85; Full-day: GSA member: $140; Non-member, $170
Information: Research to understand the nature of health disparities and the mechanisms by which they occur depend on measures that are appropriate for and work equivalently in diverse subgroups of populations. But scales and measures developed in one group may not work the same in another. The RCMAR measurement and methods cores have sponsored prior workshops and numerous publications on methods for evaluating the conceptual and psychometric adequacy of such measures when applied to ethnically diverse populations. There is still need for guidance about what constitutes acceptable levels of equivalence and what to do when evidence supports non-equivalence. This current workshop summarizes the issues involved in evaluating equivalence, offers strategies for making modifications, and describes approaches for understanding the consequences of modifying of scales for use with diverse groups. Case studies are presented as illustrations of the decisions about and implementation of modifications, and break out groups will provide participants the opportunity to discuss and apply the workshop information. 
Link: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program/pre-conference-workshops