McMaster has recently joined the Age Friendly University (AFU) Global Network. The network has created ten principles that age-friendly universities aim to meet. The principles include the involvement of people over 65 in research and educational initiatives, as well as in the broader university community.

The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) is collecting information related to the current status of these principles at McMaster in order to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. You are invited to complete a brief 10-question survey regarding your perceptions of McMaster as an age-friendly university.

The following link will lead you to the online survey: https://surveys.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php/369361?lang=en

In this brief survey, you will be shown the ten principles and asked for your input on if/how your area or department is currently meeting the principles. If you are a member of the broader community, or if you are not connected to a specific department or area, you may consider your experiences with the University as a whole. For each principle, you will be asked to provide examples that demonstrate the principles and/or offer opportunities to improve. Lastly, you will be asked if you have any further comments and, if you agree, for your contact information so that we may contact you for more detailed information and to send you the study results.

You are participating in this study anonymously. Once you have submitted your responses for this survey, your answers will be put into a database and will not be identifiable to you. An optional set of questions will follow this survey and provide you with the opportunity to provide your contact information, if you are interested in being contacted by MIRA. These questions are part of a separate anonymized online survey and the answers cannot be connected to your answers to the rest of the study questions. If you choose to provide your name and contact information, we will not use your name or any information that would allow you to be identified in any reports or articles. You can stop being in this study any time during the survey, but once you submit the survey it will not be possible to remove your data as it will not be identifiable to you. Study information kept on a computer will be protected by a password. The letter of information linked within the survey preamble gives you full details about the study.

This study has been reviewed and cleared by the McMaster Research Ethics Board. If you have questions or concerns about your rights as a participant or about the way the study is being conducted, you may contact:

The McMaster Research Ethics Board Secretariat
Telephone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 23142
c/o Research Office for Administration, Development and Support (ROADS)
E-mail: ethicsoffice@mcmaster.ca

For more information about this study, please contact Allison Ward, Project Manager at MIRA, at (905) 525-9140 x 21428 or email warda2@mcmaster.ca.

Thank you for your time and participation.