Mission, Vision & Mandate
Eleven continuum of care Villages comprise the primary research and development sites for the RIA, where innovations are conceived and tested, and those elements found to be effective are immediately integrated into practice (practice development). Learnings from each of these activities are widely shared via a knowledge transfer strategy that includes integration into education curricula, traditional publications and conference presentations, and more immediately via participation in networks such as the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN).
Today the primary goal is to enhance the care of older adults in both community-based and Long Term Care environments through the development and implementation of innovative research and training programs. The research collaborations and training initiatives fostered by the RIA are practical, hands-on, and have a direct link to resident quality of life.
The major components of the RIA include:
- Well-developed research teams within the University of Waterloo that operate under the RIA umbrella
- Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP)
- Vascular Aging & Brain Health Program
- Emerging research teams
- Program for Active Living (PAL)
*Includes former Functional Abilities Program (FAP) and Fitness & Plasticity of Aging Program - Spiritual Care for Seniors
- Optimizing Medications for Seniors
- Agri-food for Healthy Aging (A-HA)
- Program for Active Living (PAL)
- Training program development in partnership with Conestoga College for Registered Staff and Personal Support Workers
- Curricula development towards gerontology streas of study for RNs, RPNs, PSWs
- Professional development courses for registered and non-registered staff working in Long Term Care
- Full-time Research Associate funded to provide a bridge between research teams and seniors care homes (to facilitate access, match research projects to homes and researcher needs)
- Joint faculty appointments between RIA and the University of Waterloo (Schlegel Research Chairs).
- Joint faculty appointment between RIA and Conestoga College (RIA Chair for Enhanced Seniors Care)
- Seed grants to support young researchers to do research in Long Term Care, or to support established researchers in submitting applications for larger research grants in seniors' care
- Money for graduate student scholarships to attract the development of new researchers into the field of aging