Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

The proposed work will support the planning and dissemination activities of a newly established Research Centre. The Centre is focused on aging with dignity, as we know every person has a right to. This Centre has been officially approved for a start up by the Academic Council of Ontario Tech University in April 2022. Through the Centre's activities, we want to drive research innovation in partnerships, collaboration, inter-disciplinary and interprofessional approaches to enhance the health and wellbeing of seniors who deserve respect, autonomy, and support. The proposed grant aims at planning and promoting activities that will bring together researchers, collaborators from the Oshawa Senior Community Centres +55, and Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario, and seniors in identifying emerging priorities and issues that are currently lacking understanding in healthy and satisfying aging. This knowledge will form the basis of future collaborative funding applications that will focus on important priorities surrounding aging with dignity among diverse groups of stakeholders. It is significant that these activities take place early in the development of this Centre to ensure relevance, collaboration, and engagement of the stakeholders. Building on the expertise of Ontario Tech University's researchers and their collaborators will contribute to the expected outcomes of this grant i.e., the identification of where the gaps exist in the current research as we will focus on people's perspectives and experiences of aging suggesting where new research should focus.