Current Studies

Think PHRESH Project

Our data collectors are conducting interviews for our new project, Think PHRESH. We're interested in understanding how changing neighborhood conditions throughout life contribute to healthy aging, including thinking and memory.

If you live in Pittsburgh's Hill District or Homewood neighborhoods, you may be eligible to participate.

Get Involved

Your participation will help us understand more about your neighborhood and how it might impact your health. The results of the study will help improve communities locally and across the country.

How You'll Benefit

PHRESH participants are compensated for their time and effort when they participate in the survey and other parts of data collection (such as dietary recalls).

We also want participants to better understand the information that we are collecting on a community level. Participant information will remain anonymous. But looking at the aggregate data can hopefully allow residents to see where additional services might be needed.

What You'll Be Asked to Do

If you participate in PHRESH, you may be asked to:

  1. Complete a 45- to 60-minute in-person interview with a PHRESH staff member. The meeting can take place in your home, in our field office, or in a public place.
  2. Allow us to measure your height and weight.
  3. Complete a 3-hour cognitive assessment.
  4. If participants are eligible and willing, there may be other health-related measurements for additional incentive. Examples from past data collections include:
    • Participants wore a watch-sized activity meter to measure physical activity and sleep for seven days.
    • Participants completed a daily sleep diary for the seven days that they wore the meter.
    • Participants completed blood draws that tested blood sugar and lipids.
    • Participants wore an overnight sleep-monitoring device that measured breathing while sleeping, or sleep apnea.
    • In the past (and in planned data collection), participants have reported everything they eat and drink in the past 24 hours. This is also called a 24-hour dietary recall. This is how diet is assessed.
Read our FAQs to learn more about Think PHRESH

Have Questions? Interested in Participating? Contact Us!

If you have questions about Think PHRESH or are interested in participating, email La’Vette Wagner, or call 412-586-5695.