Funding Awarded to Healthy Aging Research Projects

As part of its ongoing commitment to support healthy aging in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Government has awarded approximately $186,000 in funding to support the most recent grants under the Newfoundland and Labrador Healthy Aging Research Program. The aim of the program is to facilitate a stronger focus on research on aging and seniors.

“As the population ages, there is a greater need for education and research on potential impacts on society,” said the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Health and Community Services and Minister Responsible for Aging and Seniors. “The research projects funded this year focus on a variety of issues including hearing loss, fall prevention, and seniors’ nutrition. The findings will help inform the development of effective policies and contribute to the health of our aging population.”

The Newfoundland and Labrador Healthy Aging Research Program is administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research. The program was established to address the priority directions of the Provincial Government’s Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework. The priority directions include: recognition of older persons; celebrating diversity; supportive communities; financial well-being; health and well-being; and, employment, education and research.

Recipients of this year’s awards fall into four categories: Doctoral Dissertation Award; Master’s Research Grant; Project Grant; and, Seed Grant. Details on recipients of this year’s funding are listed in the backgrounder below. In the past four years, approximately $730,000 has been distributed through the Newfoundland and Labrador Healthy Aging Research Program.

Full details on this program are available on the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research website, www.nlcahr.mun.ca/funding/aging , or by contacting program coordinator Tyrone White at 777-7973.

Over the past several years the Provincial Government has invested in significant programs and campaigns that focus on seniors and aging through the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework including the Age-Friendly Newfoundland and Labrador Grants Program; the Healthy Aging Seniors Wellness Grants Program; the Ageless Public Awareness Campaign; and, the Seniors of Distinction Awards.

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Media contact:
Jennifer Tulk
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 699-6524
JenniferTulk@gov.nl.ca 

BACKGROUNDER
2011-12 Healthy Aging Research Program Award Recipients

Doctoral Dissertation Award
Roberta Didonato of the Psychology Department, Memorial University, will receive $60,000 over two years to examine how age-related hearing loss impacts memory in older adults.

Master’s Research Grants
Elizabeth Wallack and Lin Liu from the Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University will each receive $5,000 to further their studies. Ms. Wallack will examine The Impact of a Skype-Delivered Dementia Caregiver Intervention on Caregiver Burden. Ms. Liu’s study is titled Dietary Intake and Eating Patterns of Elderly People in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Project Grants
Dr. Jacqueline Hesson from the Faculty of Education, Memorial University, will receive $39,804 for a study titled Cytomegalovirus Immune Risk Phenotype and Cognitive Functioning in the Oldest Old. Dr. Jeanette Byrne of Memorial University’s School of Human Kinetics and Recreation will receive $16,620 to complete her study, Fall Prevention in Seniors in the Greater St. John's Area: A Qualitative and Quantitative Examination of a Fall Prevention Program. Dr. Guangju Zhai of the Discipline of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, will receive $40,000 for Metabolomics of Aging – Identification of Metabolic Biomarkers of Aging.

Seed Grant
Principal Investigator Dr. Peter Wang of the Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University will receive $20,000 for Assessing Dietary Intake and Adequacy of Elderly Residents of Newfoundland – a Pilot Study.

2012 03 13             11:30 a.m.