About the Health Promotion Research Center

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HPRC & Healthy Aging

The Health Promotion Research Center, located at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, is one of 35 dedicated Prevention Research Centers in the United States. These centers are funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through their Prevention Research Centers Program (cooperative agreement # 1-U48-DP-000050). HPRC is one of two centers whose focus is on healthy aging.

What is the CDC's Prevention Research Center program?

Each of the nation’s 35 Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) focuses on a particular theme, either a health problem of great concern, a specific population, or a defined geographic area. All of the PRCs have two major goals in common: 1) identification of healthcare solutions for vulnerable populations, and 2) formation of partnerships between health departments, academic units, healthcare organizations and community groups. 

What is Prevention Research?

Prevention research is an important counterpart to laboratory or biomedical research. While biomedical research focuses on the best practices for treating people with disease, prevention research focuses on keeping people free from disease and its complications. Prevention research strives to prolong the health, well-being, and self-sufficiency of individuals, thus enhancing healthy behaviors.

Prevention research generally occurs at the community level, helping to identify health-related concerns and develop strategies for enhancing healthy behaviors. This research often focuses on chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, since many factors that contribute to these diseases can be modified. In fact, public health officials often point out that the three leading causes of death in the United States—heart disease, cancer, and stroke—are linked to four modifiable risk factors: tobacco, poor diet, lack of exercise, and alcohol.

About HPRC & Healthy Aging

The central theme of the Health Promotion Research Center is "keeping older adults healthy and independent." First funded in 1986 as the Center for Health Promotion in Older Adults, the center’s name was changed to Northwest Prevention Effectiveness Center in 1996 to reflect a life-span approach to prevention. In June 2000, the advisory board voted to change the name to Health Promotion Research Center for greater name understanding. Key faculty investigators from the University of Washington have expertise in developing interventions to reduce chronic disability in seniors. Partners of the center include agencies committed to promoting health and quality of life for older populations.

Studies carried out by HPRC develop and test methods for improving the health, well-being, and level of function of older adults.

By the year 2020, 25% of the U.S. population will be over 60 years of age. Finding ways to improve the health status of older adults is an important and worthwhile investment. Preventing chronic disease and disability can reduce the collective economic burden on society for medical care, loss of income, pain and suffering, and lost productivity. HPRC is hoping to reduce some of this burden with prevention-oriented research. Through rigorous demonstration projects with community partners, HPRC is working to increase the body of evidence that shows how healthful behaviors, such as exercise and good nutrition, translate into decreased rates of disease and disability.