Health and Community Services
February 18, 2013
$175,000 Awarded for Healthy Aging Research Projects
To help encourage more focused research on aging and seniors, the Provincial Government is funding seven projects through the Healthy Aging Research Program. Researchers from Memorial University and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information are receiving a total of $175,000 in grants.
“The findings from these projects and from previously funded research studies help to inform and shape our policy development with regard to healthy aging,” said the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Health and Community Services and Minister Responsible for Aging and Seniors. “Planning for an aging population is a priority of this government. Over the past five years, a total of $905,000 has been distributed through this program.”
The Healthy Aging Research Program is administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research, which facilitates applied health research in this province through its grant and awards programs, knowledge translation and capacity development activities.
This year’s selected projects are listed in the backgrounder below. The projects focus on a range of issues, including dementia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis.
The Healthy Aging Research Program provides funding for student awards, faculty awards, and research grants to support research on issues of relevance to the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework. The program supports a wide variety of topics related to healthy aging and encourages applications that address any of the following priority research themes: caregiving; peer support and community capacity; crisis intervention; rehabilitation; and, dementia.
“We continue to make significant investments in programs that focus on seniors and healthy aging through the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework,” said Minister Sullivan. “The framework was established to encourage individuals, families, communities and society as a whole to foster healthy aging in order to achieve optimal health and well-being.”
Further details on the Healthy Aging Research Program are available on
the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research website at
www.nlcahr.mun.ca/funding/aging,
or by contacting program coordinator Tyrone White at 777-7973.
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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
2012-13 Healthy Aging Research Program Award Recipients
Data Inventory Report: Funding is awarded for the candidate to produce an assessment of provincial data holdings, including an evaluation of data quality and an analysis of missing data and strategies for acquiring them.
- John Knight, Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information, Data Inventory for Health Aging Research in Newfoundland and Labrador ($15,000)
Doctoral Dissertation Award: This fellowship is designed to support the final stages of a doctoral program while the recipient is actively working on a dissertation in the area of healthy aging.
- Michael King, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University and Faculty of Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Brain Hemodynamics during Aerobic Exercise in the Aging Population ($30,000 per year/two years)
Doctoral Research Grant: This grant category assists doctoral candidates in covering the costs associated with their research and dissemination of their research.
- Jennifer Woodrow, Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Osteoarthritis and Delivery of Care in Newfoundland and Labrador ($10,000)
Master’s Research Grants: To help Master’s candidates cover the costs associated with the research for their thesis or major project research on aging-related topics.
- Zhi Chen, Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Survival Patterns in Colorectal Cancer and the Role of Socioeconomic Status ($5,000)
- Yanyan Zhang, Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Prevalence and Spatial Distribution of Osteoporosis and Related Fracture Risk in the Aging Population of Newfoundland and Labrador ($5,000)
Project Grants: These grants enable a team of local and national or international researchers to be assembled to conduct research on a topic related to a priority theme.
- Mohamed Hossam Ahmed, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, Remote Fall Detection in Seniors ($40,000)
- Roger Butler, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Telegerontology: A Novel Approach to Optimize Health and Safety among people with Dementia in Newfoundland and Labrador ($40,000)
2013 02 18 4:15 p.m.