MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre

The MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre was created in April 2021 as a collaboration between McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and Dixon Hall – a multi-service agency situated in downtown Toronto that focuses on poverty, social injustices and isolation, across the lifespan. Dixon Hall is well established and celebrated for its commitment to comprehensive client care to support Toronto’s most vulnerable, including lowincome, homeless and precariously housed older adults. The MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre is nested within MIRA to extend and expand on MIRA’s reach, while targeting populations of citizens for whom mobility work can have positive outcomes. This collaboration will assist to improve quality of life and enable older adults to live with dignity through purposeful initiatives planned over the short- and long-term. The MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre’s work is enabled by a generous donation by Suzanne Labarge.

Since April, the MIRA and Dixon Hall teams have increased their resource capacity by hiring staff and have worked together to introduce the organizations and their members to one another. The Centre is establishing processes for collaborative work, including considerations of client confidentiality; equity, diversity and inclusion; communication strategies; and standard operating procedures. The governance structure has been established and MIRA has started the search for a Scientific Director to lead the institute alongside Parminder Raina.

During the pandemic in 2020 and into this year, MIRA and Dixon Hall have actively engaged in a short-term project through a collaboration with the Intergenerational and Life Course Program of Research (InHamilton; Dr. Andrea Gonzalez; 2018 Catalyst Grant). In response to COVID-19, the InHamilton program pivoted to collect measures examining the impact of COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of individuals. Part of the data for this study was collected through the MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre and includes Dixon Hall clients. Findings are currently being analyzed and will be published in 2022.

In the past year, the Centre has started working on longer-term directed research projects. The MacM3 and EMBOLDEN teams, who lead MIRA’s first two major programs of research have started discussions with the Dixon Hall team and are planning to enroll participants from the communities Dixon Hall serves to amplify the scope of these major programs of research and expand the findings to a wider range of diverse communities. The implementation of these directed projects will be tailored to the Dixon Hall communities using a co-design approach. The Centre is now also expanding its collaboration with Dr. Andrea Gonzalez in a larger examination of intergenerational research (MIRA iGEN) across communities in Hamilton and in communities in Toronto served by Dixon Hall.

Dixon Hall is conducting a needs assessment to identify projects that will inform the development of evidence-based information to support their priority programs and services. These will become new MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre research initiatives that will start rolling out in 2022. The Dixon Hall team has also embarked on an evaluation of the Optimal Aging Portal as the vision is that Dixon Hall will become ambassadors for the Portal and will assist in developing additional content that is relevant to the Dixon Hall community. The longer-term vision is that this new technological library for seniors, also enabled by Suzanne Labarge, will be available to support Dixon Hall’s client base.

The integration of these directed and new projects within the mandate and operations of Dixon Hall has started the development of a local research milieu that will attract research and policy experts willing to engage in the future of this work and shared discoveries and participate in the body of research developments cultivated by the MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre.

“The goal is to improve quality of life through purposeful initiatives planned over both the short- and long-term. It is exciting to think about the voices and experiences of our clients being captured as part of this work. So often they go unheard.” — Christine Chow Director of Seniors Services, Dixon Hall

“We are immensely grateful for Suzanne Labarge’s continued commitment to and keen interest in our researchers’ world-class research into aging. With her leadership and generosity, McMaster has grown to be a powerhouse in understanding and improving health and well-being throughout the aging process. This new partnership with Dixon Hall is another example of the way in which collaboration and expertise can make a remarkable impact.” — David Farrar President, McMaster University

“The everyday realities of vulnerable seniors are exacerbated by imposed COVID-19 restrictions. Social isolation is more pronounced and social mobility is stymied. There is an urgency to consider the pandemicspecific issues facing older adults in the larger area Dixon Hall represents, since the exploration of these challenges will inform future areas of inquiry and decisions on program design for these populations.” — Parminder Raina Scientific Director, MIRA