A national program to enhance research on Minority Aging and Health Promotion

This introductory overview article addresses the importance of minority aging research for understanding and reducing health differentials found in older minority/ethnic populations, and highlights developments on the national level to draw scientific attention and resources to minority research. It sets one national effort, the Exploratory Centers for Minority Aging and Health Promotion (MAHP), a program sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of Research on Minority Health (NIH), within the larger context of federal efforts to promote minority health research over the past 15 years. This overview reviews the MAHP projects and lessons learned about outreach, recruitment, and retention that are critical for conducting research in older minority populations.