Projects
Projects in the Aging and Population Health Lab are focused on older adult mobility.
Currently, as part of a CIHR-funded Healthy Cities Implementation Science Team in Healthy Aging, we are adapting a choice-based older adult health promotion program called 'Choose to Move' to meet the unique needs and preferences of older men. And, with collaborators in Australia, we are developing a core outcome set for clinical trials of physical activity with older adults.
Our research is embedded in knowledge translation and exchange frameworks and adopts patient-oriented research approaches to supports translation of insights into actions.
In the past, we have tested interventions to prevent fall-related injuries, designed and evaluated exercise programs to reduce the energetic requirements of walking and related fatigability, investigated measurement properties of wearable technology, modelled chronic disease risk to identify subpopulations who would particularly benefit from physical activity interventions, and studied the feasibility and impacts of delivering exercise in community dialysis units.
Current Research Projects
choose to move for men
Physically active older adults are more socially connected, mobile and independent than their inactive counterparts. To improve population health, health promotion programs need to reach and meet the needs of older people from diverse populations.
The Choose to Move program was originally co-designed by researchers, older adults, and community and government partners. CTM is a flexible, scalable, and community-based health promotion program that improves mobility, physical activity and social health in older adults. CTM has been scaled up over 8 years to reach >6000 older adults in the province of British Columbia, yet it has largely engaged white older women.
Thus, we are using implementation science approaches to adapt Choose to Move to meet the unique needs and preferences of older men. We will work in partnership with community-based organizations that serve seniors to deliver adapted Choose to Move programs for men. We will describe how CTM is adapted for men, evaluate implementation factors affecting program delivery, and measure health indicators among program participants to assess the impact of CTM.
The results of this study will help build capacity to support health and aging of older men.
Collaborators: Dr. Dawn Mackey, Dr. Heather McKay, Dr. Joanie Sims Gould
Funding: CIHR
Key Personnel: Peter Young, Douglas Race
Publications: Forthcoming
Photo by Nathália Bariani on Unsplash
Core outcome set for older adult physical activity trials
Project description forthcoming.
Collaborators: Dr. Dawn Mackey, Dr. Christina Ekegren, Dr. Claire Baldwin
Funding: Drummond Foundation
Key Personnel: Sarra Pirmohamed, Peter Young, Angela Wong, Alex Ciok, Hitika Gosal, Christine Wallsworth, Bob Strain
Publications: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Journal of Aging and Physical Activity