AGE-WELL webinars

1. AGE-WELL & APPTA Policy Rounds: Using Geographic Data for Policy Planning and Program Development in Canadian Communities Facing Accelerated Aging | February 21, 2024 @ 1:00 – 1:30pm ET

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Speaker: Dr. Catherine Bigonnesse, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of New Brunswick

Description:  An aging population is a very complex phenomenon that affects many sectors of our society simultaneously. However, policies on aging are often developed in silos without a coherent vision of the interconnecting factors. To adequately address the needs of older adults, geographic context must be incorporated to policy planning and program development. This webinar presents the newly established Atlantic Observatory on Aging dedicated to the monitoring of healthy aging indicators across communities in Atlantic Canada. Its purpose is to provide stakeholders and policymakers with a simple and easy tool to access data on the aging population anchored in geographic locations relevant for public policy planning and program development. Join us to discover what happens when geomatics and gerontology meet to make sense of big data about our aging population!

1. ELEVATE EDI WEBINAR SERIES: Implementing Sex and Gender Considerations into Health Research Funding Policy – What are we learning? | February 22, 2024 @ 12:00 – 1:00pm ET 

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Speaker: Dr. Angela Kaida, Scientific Director of CIHR Institute of Gender and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Description: In this talk, Dr. Angela Kaida will discuss the importance of integrating sex and gender considerations in health research. and the processes that CIHR’s Institute of Gender and Health is leading to develop, implement, and evaluate policies that require sex and gender considerations in health research funding applications submitted to CIHR.

Participants attending this webinar will learn to:

• Differentiate between sex and gender.
• Understand the development, implementation, and evaluation of policies that require sex and gender considerations in health research funding applications submitted to CIHR.
• Reflect upon what will be needed to further advance sex and gender integration into health research funding policies.

1. AGE-WELL & APPTA Policy Rounds: Wheelchair skills assessment and training: from research evidence to clinical practice | February 28, 2024 @ 1:00 – 1:30pm ET 

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Speaker: Dr. R. Lee Kirby, MD, FRCPC, Professor, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Description:  In our upcoming webinar, learn and discover more about the Wheelchair Skills Program (WSP), an online resource offering free, evidence-based assessment and training for wheelchair users, spanning manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, and motorized mobility scooters. The WSP, a user-friendly initiative, empowers individuals with mobility impairments allowing them to have greater independence in their day-to-day activities. This event is a chance to understand more about how the WSP, a low-tech, high-impact training is applicable in various settings. Join us as we navigate towards enhanced mobility and inclusivity for older adults with diverse mobility needs.

1. AGE-WELL Webinar: Advancing your ECR research goals via Interdisciplinary Collaboration | February 29, 2024 @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET 

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Join us as this webinar will provide valuable insights into the transformative potential of interdisciplinary collaborations for Early Career Researchers (ECRs). Our speakers will demonstrate how they joined forces to apply novel ideas to address complex problems, fostering innovative solutions for societal challenges. 

AGE-WELL believes that ECRs are the catalyst that will drive Canada’s leadership in AgeTech and build communities to foster strong interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Shehroz Khan, a computer scientist, and Dr. Charlene Chu, a Registered Nurse, were both AGE-WELL HQP in 2018. Through AGE-WELL, they began their collaborations in 2019 in order to bring a unique interdisciplinary perspective to research and innovation to improve the lives of older adults. Collectively, they employ innovative methodologies to address intricate research challenges, successfully publishing journal articles, conference papers, and securing research funds from multiple Tri-Council agencies. 

In this webinar, you will learn how to:  

• Navigate interdisciplinary collaborations 
• Leverage research partnerships to amplify the impact of your work   

Speakers: 

Dr. Charlene Chu, RN, University of Toronto, and KITE – University Health Network; 

Dr. Shehroz Khan, KITE, University Health Network.

1. ELEVATE EDI Webinar Series: Storytelling and Friendships: Telling Tales about New and Creative Anticolonial Research Methods | March 7, 2024 @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET 

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Speakers: 

• Kung Jaadee, Haida, Storyteller and Author
• Sarah de Leeuw, Canada Research Chair of Humanities and Health Inequities, Poet and Professor, Northern Medical Program, University of British Columbia

Description: This partnered EDI webinar series between EPIC-AT, AGE-WELL and UHN focuses on diverse programming of health researchers, advocates and healthcare professionals delivering webinars on ageism, gender, and allyship. 

Delivered by two friends, this interactive lecture and workshop is designed to move hearts and minds. How do we think about and practice in new and anticolonial ways? Part of the answer might be located with storytelling, friendship, and narrative, all of which can be broadly conceptualized as tools of a growing field known as health humanities. Facilitated by a non-Indigenous writer/researcher and an Indigenous storyteller, the Storytelling and Friendships lecture workshop will include: Indigenous stories; book making and reflective writing exercise; and an opportunity to learn about how stories, books, and narratives can be important research tools in deepening understandings about cultural humility, cultural competency, anti-racism.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand health humanities and how they can be helpful to well-being
• Gain an appreciation for stories and storytelling as research methods, as a means of deepening knowledge about Indigenous peoples, and by undertaking culturally humble practices
• Strengthen vulnerability skills by engaging in critical reflection and creative making

1. AGE-WELL and EPIC-AT present: Fostering Cultural Safety in Health Research: Insights from Indigenous Elders and Allied Settler Researchers | March 12, 2024 @ 12:00 – 1:00pm ET 

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Panelists: 

• Elder Arlene Rosemary Gervais, Elder Advisor and Adjunct Professor for the UBC Faculty of Medicine
• Elder Ethel Dubois of Star Blanket Cree Nation 
• Dr. Charlotte Jones, PhD, MD, FRCPC, endocrinologist and researcher at UBC’s Southern Medical Program 
• Dr. Viviane Josewski, Assistant Professor at UNBC’s School of Nursing, EPIC-AT Fellow
• Dr. Cari Dawn McIlduff, Assistant Professor in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan

Embark on a transformative learning journey about the importance and meaning of cultural safety in health research by joining our upcoming webinar, featuring a panel of Indigenous Elders and community-based ally settler researchers. Hear panellists share personal journeys, stories and insights into why cultural safety matters, what it is, and how to enact it in research partnerships with Indigenous communities.

Learning Outcomes:

• Unpack colonial realities and explore the profound importance of understanding past and ongoing colonialism in research and its impact on Indigenous peoples, families and communities.
• Learn why it’s crucial for researchers to be attuned to the unique health service challenges faced by Indigenous communities and ways to address them.
• Take away actionable strategies for how to co-create, nurture, and sustain relationships and partnerships with Indigenous communities that foster cultural safety within and beyond the research context.

1. AGE-WELL & APPTA Policy Rounds: Accessible and effortless monitoring of chronic respiratory diseases in older adults: A data-driven approach for timely interventions | March 27, 2024 @ 1:00 – 1:30pm ET 

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Speaker: Sejal Bhalla, Ph.D. student, Computational Health and Interaction Lab (CHAL), Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto

Description:  Timely diagnosis and remote disease monitoring have proven instrumental in improving outcomes for patients grappling with chronic respiratory diseases. However, despite the advances in digital health, respiratory health monitoring systems encounter several challenges that impact their integration into clinical care. This presentation aims to explore these challenges, providing insights into the factors affecting feasibility and acceptance. It will introduce a new software tool designed to address some of these challenges, facilitating monitoring, timely interventions, and enhanced quality of life for older adults.