The Midwest Leadership in Education, Application, and Dissemination of Research on the Social Determinants of Health (LEADRS) Program

Indiana University Indianapolis, Indianapolis IN

Investigators

Abstract

The NIH-wide Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Research Coordinating Committee defines SDOH as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, learn, work, play, live, and age, and the wider set of structural factors shaping the conditions of everyday life.” The interactions between SDOH and individual, family, and community level factors require researchers to address systems and structures to improve health for Americans. Nurse scientists and scientists in aligned professions have limited opportunities for training to conduct SDOH research. To address this gap, our team from the IU Schools of Nursing and Medicine (IUSON and IUSM) propose to develop and implement the Midwest Leadership in Education, Application, and Dissemination of Research on the Social Determinants of Health (LEADRS) Program.   We will engage three cohorts of 20 scientists (PhD students, post-doctoral trainees, and early/mid-career faculty) over 9 months each, with 8 seats reserved for Institutional Scholars and 12 for Regional Scholars. Institutional Scholars: the eight scholars participating via this track will include four IUSON PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty in their first three years of appointment and four doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty in their first three years of appointment from aligned health schools at Indiana University. Regional Scholars: all twelve scholars participating via this track will be nurse scientists; eight will recruited through our partnership with the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS), allowing for competitive recruitment of nurse scientists from the Society’s 13-state catchment area, and four will be recruited in partnership with two Midwest Schools of Nursing. Regional Scholars will be a) faculty at the assistant or associate level, or b) scientists who conduct or direct research in non-academic settings (e.g. major health organizations, public health departments, non-profits).  The Education Pillar will consist of the Midwest SDOH Research Intensive, a four-day workshop in SDOH principles and methods. As part of the Application Pillar, scholars will apply learned concepts to their research, and to research needs of community partners. As part of the Dissemination Pillar, scholars will present locally (home institution) and submit presentations to regional, national, and international conferences.  The overall goal of the Midwest LEADRS Program is to prepare nurse scientists and scientists from aligned health professions to conduct and evaluate research that addresses the SDOH to improve health. Its aims are: Aim 1: Educate nurse scientists and scientists in the aligned health professions on key SDOH concepts, frameworks, and research methods to address SDOH and improve health. Aim 2: Support the development of new research and refinement of existing research to address critical gaps in SDOH. Aim 3: Evaluate, refine, and disseminate key resources from the program, making them easily accessible for nurse scientists and the scientific community.     Â