Aging in place project earns $2.5M to expand Oasis
A SSHRC Partnership Grant of $2.5 million, co-led by Western’s Carri Hand, will expand the Oasis network that helps older adults age well where they already live.
The Aging in Community Partnership has received $2.5 million through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Partnership Grants to expand the Oasis Communities for Aging Well network. It is led by Queen’s researchers Catherine Donnelly and Vincent DePaul and by Carri Hand, an occupational therapy professor in Western’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
Oasis began in 2011 in a Kingston apartment building and now runs in 23 communities across Canada, including London and St. Thomas. Each site shapes its own activities, such as exercise classes, arts, cards and shared meals, with an on-site coordinator and sometimes student volunteers. The team’s research over eight years found it helped address loneliness and increased physical activity.
The grant brings total funding for the initiative past $13 million. The partnership includes researchers from seven Canadian universities, collaborators in Manchester, U.K., and Scotland, and dozens of community partners.
It also aims to offer training to students, postdoctoral fellows and early-career researchers in aging, housing and community development.
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