A Florida State University psychology professor is leading a team of researchers who have received a $4.6 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research to establish a center aimed at developing technologies to improve the lives of older adults.
Walter Boot, professor in FSU’s Department of Psychology and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Successful Longevity, is heading up the group of researchers from FSU, the University of Illinois, and Weill Cornell Medicine who will launch ENHANCE (Enhancing Neurocognitive Health, Abilities, Networks, & Community Engagement). The research center will focus on older adults living with cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment and traumatic brain injury.
The objectives of the ENHANCE center are to:
- understand the challenges older adults with cognitive impairment encounter with daily activities, how these vary according to type of cognitive impairment and needed areas of and preferences for support;
- identify, develop and evaluate potential technology solutions;
- disseminate findings to multiple stakeholders; and
- advance new knowledge in the aging, cognitive disability, and technology space.
Boot will co-direct the center with Sara J. Czaja, assistant professor of Gerontology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Neil Charness, FSU professor of psychology and director of the Institute for Successful Longevity, and Wendy A. Rogers, director of the Human Factors & Aging Laboratory at the University of Illinois, are also part of the center’s research team.
ENHANCE is part of a network of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers supported by the national institute. The centers conduct advanced engineering research and development of innovative technologies designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems or remove environmental barriers.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers also demonstrate and evaluate technologies, facilitate changes to service delivery systems and stimulate the production and distribution of equipment in the private sector. In addition, the centers provide training opportunities to enable individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to become researchers and practitioners of rehabilitation technology.
The ENHANCE center is Boot’s second major research award this year. In August, the National Institute on Aging awarded Boot a $2.9 million grant to investigate early detection and treatment of age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
