Grant: CIHR New Investigator

Seniors are the largest growing proportion of our population in Canada, and they are living longer than previous generations so there is a greater chance that they will develop multiple chronic conditions. Optimizing care for people with multiple chronic diseases is challenging, and different tools for patients and their health care providers have been created to improve how chronic diseases are managed. Although these tools have potential, most are created for a single disease, which doesn't address the needs of most seniors who have multiple chronic conditions. The first objective of this research project is to create a "pathway" for the creation of good quality tools that can address the best possible management of seniors with chronic conditions. I call this process the "Pathway to Tools for Healthy Seniors" or PATH-S. As a first step, I will use the results from a review of the literature to develop a draft version of PATH-S. To finalize this, I will ask a group of people (who are interested in chronic disease tools and experts in developing them) to rate the importance of specific elements of PATH-S using an online survey, and then to finalize it during an in-person group meeting. Once PATH-S is finished, the second objective of my proposal will be to apply the PATH-S steps to create and test a unique tool that can address two or more chronic conditions (for example, a tool that can address both diabetes and dementia at the same time). I call this the "Aging Well" tool. The senior population is rapidly increasing, so the results of this research project has potential to improve care for many seniors who suffer from at least two chronic conditions. The collective work also has the potential for wide influence, as tools produced using the PATH-S process will ensure that the growing needs of older people with chronic diseases are addressed appropriately across different care settings. This in turn has the potential to lessen the burden of chronic diseases on our