2 minute read
Communications, Outreach and Events
The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) supports aging research through strategic communications and knowledge translation. MIRA members are active in highlighting the importance of aging and mobility in public discourse as their expert commentary and research work are regularly featured in local, national and international media. This year, MIRA researchers were featured in the New York Times, CBC, Global News, The Hamilton Spectator, The Globe and Mail and many other news outlets.
• 28,000 new users visited the MIRA website this year, double the number from last year, pageviews increased by 68 per cent to over 68,000
Advertisement
• MIRA’s social media presence continued to grow, with over 2,300 Twitter, 252 Facebook and 163 LinkedIn followers
• MIRA continued to tell the stories of our research, experts and community engagement through 134 stories in local, national and international media. Online readership for all these media outlets is over 8.59 million people.
• Two newsletters, one for MIRA members and one for the public and community partners, continue to grow their readership and reach.
• During the pandemic, MIRA has continued to host many successful and engaging events virtually. This year, 19 MIRA events were held for researchers, trainees and the public.
Events
Events in 2021 continued to be held virtually as COVID-19 related restrictions remained in place. Despite the “Zoom fatigue” many people experienced during the pandemic, virtual events were well attended and provided excellent opportunities for researchers and trainees to discuss important topics related to aging. As restrictions begin to ease, MIRA is looking forward to getting back to inperson events but also plans to continue some offerings virtually because of the increased accessibility online events offer for some participants.
MIRA’s One Topic, Two Disciplines webinar series brings together two experts from different disciplines to discuss topics in aging. Now in its second year of programming, MIRA ran four seminars on a variety of important topics in 2021, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary research.
