Health and Community Services
March 20, 2009
Grants Awarded for Research on Healthy Aging
As part of its commitment to support healthy aging in Newfoundland and
Labrador, the Provincial Government has awarded $250,000 in funding to
support research in priority areas related to aging and seniors issues
through the new Healthy Aging Research Program.
�To effectively foster healthy aging, our planning and policy
development must be grounded in solid research,� said the Honourable
Ross Wiseman, Minister of Health and Community Services. �This ensures
that we make our decisions based on the best evidence available. This
fact was echoed during our public consultations on the development of
our healthy aging policy framework.�
The Healthy Aging Research Program was established last summer as an
action item under the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework, and is
administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre For Applied Health
Research (NLCAHR). The program aims to provide the province�s research
community with incentives and opportunities to focus their attention on
research questions related to healthy aging in this province.
�We were impressed by the interest that the province�s research
community has shown in this new program, by the quality of the
applications we received, and by the broad range of aging-related
research projects that were involved,� said Dr. Stephen Bornstein,
Director of NLCAHR. �The first year of this program�s operation bodes
very well for our ability to develop research on healthy aging that will
be done by researchers in this province on topics of specific concern to
this province.�
�The recipients of this first round of grants have a demonstrated
interest and ability to conduct research in the context of aging and
their proposed projects highlight key areas in which there is a need for
additional research,� said Minister Wiseman. �I congratulate each of
them and look forward to seeing the results of their work. I am
confident that it will help us make informed decisions about how best to
respond to the needs of this province�s seniors and the challenges of
healthy aging.�
The program was designed by a planning committee consisting of key
stakeholders and experts from the university, the public sector and the
community. Applications were reviewed by a special peer review committee
and grants were awarded to the best applicants in each category � which
were those of high quality and relevant to the key issues.
The second round of the grants under the program will open in June 2009.
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Media contact:
Ronalda Walsh
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 685-1741
ronaldawalsh@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
The recipients of this year�s grants through the Healthy Aging Research
Program are:
Master�s Research Grants
Fang Liu, Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial
University: Measuring health status of aging population with
disabilities in Newfoundland and Labrador
Ellen Haskell, Department of Sociology, Memorial University:
More sunsets: The social organization of the RV sub-culture
Doctoral Dissertation Award
Geoff Power, School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial
University:
Muscle fatigue resistance in old and very old women
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Ms. Kate Dupuis, Department of Psychology, Memorial University:
Investigating the compensatory use of emotion as context in younger
and older adults
Project Grant
Dr. Marshall Godwin, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University:
Assessing criterion validity and developing population norms for the
Simple Lifestyle Indicator Questionnaire (SLIQ) in the elderly
Seed Grants
Dr. Wendy Young, School of Nursing and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial
University: Development of an age-friendly communities research team
Dr. Victor Maddalena, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University:
Palliative and end of life care in Newfoundland�s deaf community
2009 03 20
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