Six new projects funded through the Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative

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The Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative, funded through a generous donation from Chancellor Suzanne Labarge, above, has awarded funding to six new projects for the coming year. The initiative, which started in 2012, has now funded 13 research projects in addition to the creation of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, which was launched Oct. 1.


The Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative, funded through a generous donation from Chancellor Suzanne Labarge, has awarded funding to six new projects for the coming year. The initiative, which started in 2012, has now funded 13 research projects in addition to the creation of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, which was launched Oct. 1.

The six new projects are about maintaining mobility, fighting infection and managing chronic disease, and supporting the translation of research and clinical guidelines into citizen-friendly language:

  • An examination of a unique adult day service model for older adults (Vanina Dal Bello-Haas and Sharon Kaasalainen, of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences or School of Nursing)
  • Resistance and longevity for older workers with arthritis through exercise (Monica Maly, Peter Keir, Jim Potvin, of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences or the Department of Kinesiology)
  • Establishing age-related chronic inflammation as a modifiable risk factor for poor immune function in the elderly (Dawn Bowdish, Chris Verschoor, Mark Loeb, Guillaume Parè, Alexandra Papaioannou and Jonathan Bramson, of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine or Department of Medicine)
  • Preventative approaches to preclinical mobility limitation for community-dwelling older adults (Sinéad Dufour, Julie Richardson, Jenny Ploeg, Maureen Markle-Reid, Lehana Thabane, Carrie McAiney, Holly Reimer, of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences or School of Nursing)
  • An exploratory study of the effects of automobile innovations on the lived experience of older drivers, their mobility, and social policy (Amanda Grenier, Jessica Gish, Brenda Vrkljan, and Antonio Páez, of the Department of Health, Aging and Society, School of Geography and Earth Sciences or the School of Rehabilitation Sciences)
  • Providing recommendations from guidelines for healthy aging through the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal (Nancy Santesso and Holger Schunemann of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics)

The Initiative has also created a robust strategy for knowledge translation, or the communication of quality information, including a number of events in the coming months focused on optimal aging hosted by the McMaster Health Forum. More information about these events can be found here.

Further information about the new projects, the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal and the other research projects supported by the Labarge Initiative will be presented at the Labarge Research Day on November 10, 2014. For more information about the event, please contact Laura Harrington at harrinl@mcmaster.ca.