INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH EDUCATION IN COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONG HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

An innovative gerontology education program was developed to advance research on aging that is interdisciplinary and promotes the translation of knowledge from lab to life. The program focuses on communication and social interaction in healthy aging. It brings together faculty mentors, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows from six different postsecondary institutions in Canada. The program unifies basic laboratory research in hearing, vision, and cognition with applied research in audiology, biomedical engineering, optometry, psychology, speech-language pathology, human factors, and social work. The design, implementation, and evaluation of the first year of the program are described and future directions are suggested.

Notes

¹Over six years, the total commitment from CIHR, Institutes and Partners will be approximately $85 million. Each project can be funded up to $300,000 per year for six years, for a total per project amount of about $1.8 million. The allocation of funds is dictated by CIHR such that the bulk of the money is provided to graduate students with other funds available for travel and educational activities (e.g., workshops, on-line learning).

²Our training program is supported by a Strategic Research Training Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Aging, Institute of Gender and Health, and Knowledge Translation. The following are the participating faculty mentors and post-secondary institutions: Patrick Bennett, Alison Sekuler, and Ellen Bouchard Ryan (joined in 2004), McMaster University; Meredyth Daneman, Hans Kunov, Kathy Pichora-Fuller, and Bruce Schneider, University of Toronto; Jocelyn Faubert and Jean-Pierre Gagne´, Univesite´ de Montre´al; Karen Li and Natalie Phillips (joined in 2003), Concordia University; Charles Scialfa, University of Calgary; Patricia Spadafora, Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. Requests for information on the program can be directed to Kathy Pichora-Fuller or Bruce Schneider, Department of Pyschology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6 Canada.