From the schoolyard to population aging: Co-creating programs that promote health

For UBC professor Dr. Heather McKay, a research career spanning over two decades has been driven by a single ambition: answering the “gnarly” questions that affect the health of entire populations. 

As a community engaged researcher, Heather designs, tests, and scales up programs that promote health through physical activity, mobility, and social connectedness. Her career traverses the human lifespan, beginning with school children and now helping older adults age in place with dignity.

In the early 2000s, Heather used her expertise in child development and medical imaging to tackle a fundamental challenge: building strong bones. This insight birthed Action Schools! BC, where teachers prompted students to engage in short bursts of “bone-loading” movements three times a day — a simple, low-cost, physical activity that effectively enhanced children’s bone strength. Action Schools! BC started as a trial in 10 schools, and eventually grew to engage 1,600 schools, reaching 500,000 children.

As Heather’s career progressed, her focus shifted to older adults. How could implementation science approaches be used to help older adults stay mobile and socially connected? The answer was Choose to Move, a choice-based physical activity and social engagement program for British Columbians over 55. Over the past decade, Choose to Move has been scaled up to engage over 9,500 older adults across the province. By continuously adapting the program, Heather’s team cut delivery costs in half without compromising older adults’ health outcomes.

A program cannot sustain on scientific rigour alone

For Heather, scaling up these programs requires deep community trust. For over two decades, her team has nurtured partnerships with provincial ministries, health authorities, and key community organizations like the Active Aging Society, the BC Recreation and Parks Association, and local YMCAs.

“It’s important to be invited into communities,” she says, emphasizing the need for long-term relationships over transactional research. This respectful approach allows her team to co-design and tailor programs for rural, remote, and diverse older adult populations across BC.

Early funding from Health Research BC acted as a catalyst.” Implementation science was not well known or funded a decade ago,” says Heather. “Health Research BC was there early, and we were there with them.”

This initial support helped her team secure larger national grants, establish the multidisciplinary Centre for Aging SMART (formerly the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility) and ultimately leverage the provincial partnerships needed to improve the health of British Columbians across the lifespan.

Explore more of Heather’s work and its impact on British Columbians below.