Research will evaluate Tai Chi programs created to improve health and wellness for older healthcare workers.

Nicole Yuan, PhD, MPH, was awarded a Behavioral Research Seed Grant from the Innovations in Healthy Aging strategic initiative in the University of Arizona Health Sciences. The Seed Grant will support Dr. Yuan’s project titled Feasibility of Recruiting Diverse Older Healthcare Workers for Health Promotion Research, and Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Participation in Tai Chi Interventions to Improve Health.

“Our findings will contribute to the development of best practices for recruitment and retention of diverse healthcare workers in health research,” said Dr. Yuan, “We’ll evaluate Tai Chi interventions and other approaches that will inform recommendations for workplace wellness programs in healthcare institutions nationally.”

In addition to Dr. Yuan, associate professor and program director in the Department of Health Behavior Health Promotion in the Zuckerman College of Public Health, other co-investigators on the grant include Zhao Chen, PhD, MPH, associate dean for research, distinguished professor, and department chair, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Purnima Madhivanan, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, in the Zuckerman College of Public Health. Further, Jake Harwood, PhD, UArizona Department of Communications in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Nicole Marrone, PhD, CCC-A, in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences in the College of Science, will also serve as co-investigators. MPH students Allina Flaat and Jan Muyot will serve as staff on the project.

To participate in the project, healthcare workers over 50 years of age can take the survey here. Or contact Dr. Nicole Yuan, nyuan@arizona.edu.