Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging

Summary of past year

The Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging had yet another successful year supporting bold and motivated researchers and trainees leading work in mobility and aging.

Partnering with the World Health Organization (WHO), MIRA is translating years of extensive and successful research and knowledge mobilization in mobility into an ambitious project creating a framework for measuring mobility for older adults living in the community. This work began in October 2021 and includes preparing multiple systematic reviews on the psychometric properties of life space and patient-reported mobility. MIRA is also in discussion with the WHO to bring a WHO collaborating centre on aging to McMaster, through MIRA.

The 2022 MIRA and Labarge Catalyst Grant Symposium took place in November this year. The event featured presentations from six successful projects funded through Labarge Catalyst Grants in Mobility in Aging from recent years alongside the six newly funded projects. This year’s newly funded catalyst grant projects, which are outlined in greater detail earlier in this report, are being led by Milena Head (Business), Nicole Dalmer (Social Sciences), Yingying Wang (Engineering), Jenna Smith-Turchyn (Health Sciences), Ingrid Waldron (Humanities) and Dylan Kobsar (Science). Beyond the successes of their catalyst grant research, presenters spoke about further engaging members of the public, connecting with policy makers and new research fostered (and funding leveraged) from their catalyst projects.

The faculty members who presented established projects at the symposium were:

Victor Kuperman, Humanities

Writing of age: Linguistic markers of cognitive, emotional and social well-being among older adults (2019)

Michelle Wyndham-West, Social Sciences

Designing new futures: Co-creating housing and support pathways for “aging in community” to reduce premature long term care intake (2021)

Carmela Laganse, Humanities

Enhancing digital literacy and online mobility for under-represented older adults: A pilot project with Arabic-speaking communities in Hamilton (2021)

Anthony Adili & Kim Madden, Health Sciences

A multidisciplinary approach to addressing mobility limitations after orthopaedic joint replacement surgery (2019)

Paula Gardner, Humanities

ABLE – Arts based therapies enabling longevity for geriatric outpatients (2017)

Crystal Mahadeo (on behalf of Ravi Selvaganapathy, Engineering)

Bioprinted 3D in-vitro models to determine mechanisms of cognitive benefits of exercise in the elderly (2019)

The LCMA continued to adapt and change to fit the needs of researchers at McMaster.

In December 2022, two MIRA member projects received funding through the Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) Springboard Grants Program. Dylan Kobsar and Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald were each awarded CFN Springboard Grants. The LCMA was able to support both projects by providing the required matched funds, Namasivayam-MacDonald through the LCMA Matching Funding for External, Competitive Funding Calls program and Kobsar through a 2022 Labarge Catalyst Grant in Mobility in Aging.