Health Research BC is investing $6.3 million over three years to advance research that will help seniors age comfortably at home, stay connected, and live healthier, more independent lives.
The Advancing the Use of Evidence in Seniors’ Home and Community Care program supports five research teams to bring proven seniors’ care approaches into everyday care settings and evaluate their impacts. The initiative aims to shape improvements in seniors’ policy and practice across BC.
“This investment reflects Health Research BC’s commitment to ensuring seniors receive high-quality, evidence-informed care where they live,” says Dr. Geoff Payne, Health Research BC President & CEO. “It creates a unique opportunity to learn not only what works, but why it works and how it can be adapted across diverse care settings. This will ensure research evidence is implemented to address a critical provincial priority.”
Many seniors want to live independently in their own homes and communities. Despite a wealth of research showing how to improve seniors’ care, proven solutions often struggle to make the leap to real-world settings. The program focuses on closing this long-standing gap between research evidence and practice.
Funded projects will be delivered through close collaboration among health authorities, academic researchers, care providers, people with lived experience, and community partners. This integrated model ensures that solutions are both scientifically rigorous and responsive to local needs.
Projects span multiple regions of British Columbia and address diverse priorities in seniors’ care, while contributing to shared learning across the province. An innovative learning community model connects teams locally and provincially, enabling health authorities and researchers to learn from one another, adapt successful approaches, and spread effective practices more quickly. The learning community model is facilitated by the BC SUPPORT Unit, part of Health Research BC.
“This program is an important step in advancing both evidence-based seniors’ care and cross-system learning among health authorities, academic institutions, and communities,” says Monica Mamut, Unit Director, BC SUPPORT Unit.
The Advancing the Use of Evidence in Seniors’ Home and Community Care program supports Health Research BC’s priority focus on population aging and aligns with provincial priorities to strengthen home and community care. It utilizes federal funding, delivered through the BC SUPPORT Unit, to advance solutions that will improve the health of BC seniors.
“This program is a clear example of how federal investments in Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, enhance our ability to address key priorities for the province,” says Dr. Ellie Griffith, Health Research BC Vice President, Research & Innovation. “This synergy increases the impact of research investments and leads to better health outcomes.”
Funded projects
The Indigenous Caregiver Support Model aims to reduce caregiver strain and improve Elder wellbeing by providing culturally safe, coordinated in-home support, training, and financial assistance for Indigenous families caring for Elders with complex needs in the Fraser East region.
- Primary Applicant Co-Lead and Executive Sponsor: Amanda LaBoucane
- Evaluation Co-Lead: Margo Pearce
The project aims to help seniors with complex needs on Northern Vancouver Island stay safely at home and out of hospital by reducing isolation, coordinating care across partners, and addressing small practical needs that prevent crises.
- Primary Applicant Co-Lead: Ian Wood
- Executive Sponsor: Max Jajszczok
- Evaluation Co-Lead: Amy Salmon
The MESH program aims to reduce moral distress and burnout among community healthcare providers by strengthening ethical decision-making, teamwork, and support so seniors receive safer, more dignified care at home.
- Primary Applicant Co-Lead: Esther Alonso-Prieto
- Executive Sponsor: Angela De Smith
- Evaluation Co-Lead: Caroline Sanders
Small Care Homes at Vancouver Coastal Health – Supporting Seniors to Live Meaningfully in the Community with Dignity, Connection and Well-being
Vancouver Coastal Health
The Small Care Homes project aims to expand long-term care capacity by creating familiar, comfortable and culturally safe environments in residential homes that help eligible residents live with dignity, autonomy, and connection in their own communities while receiving appropriate clinical care.
- Primary Applicant Co-Lead: Rizwan Damji
- Executive Sponsor: Yasmin Jetha
- Evaluation Co-Lead: Craig Mitton
Implementing and Evaluating the Province-Wide Scale-up of Social Prescribing to Improve Older Adults’ Well Being in British Columbia
Multi-regional project*
Through collaboration with multiple health authorities and their community partners, the project aims to support expansion of social prescribing currently underway in BC through the Province’s investment in community-based seniors’ services, managed by United Way BC. Social prescribing is the process of connecting seniors with non-medical community supports, helping them stay healthier at home, reduce preventable emergency visits, and strengthen coordinated, community-based care.
* This research project is managed through Fraser Health and will be implemented across multiple BC health regions.
- Primary Applicant Co-Lead: Grace Park
- Applicant Co-Lead: Chen-Mei Margaret Lin
- Executive Sponsor: Francis Moon
- Evaluation Co-Lead: Kiffer Card
