Carleton University announced today its partnership in AGE-WELL, a pan-Canadian network of industry, non-profit, government, health and social care providers and academic partners working together to assist older citizens in maintaining their independence, health and social participation.
Details about AGE-WELL were released today in Toronto by Alice Wong, minister of state (Seniors). The network will receive more than $36 million over five years as part of the federal government’s Networks Centres of Excellence (NCE) program.
AGE-WELL, short for Aging Gracefully across Environments Using Technology for Wellness, Engagement, and Long Life, will develop solutions to some of the major challenges facing our aging population. The NCE project, based at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, will stimulate technological, social and policy innovations that support aging well by harnessing the potential of emerging and advanced technologies.
“Carleton is a national leader in the development of accessible technologies,” said Rafik Goubran, professor and dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design. “AGE-WELL will play a critical role in helping older Canadians maintain their independence.”
Goubran, along with Dr. Frank Knoefel, physician at the Bruyère Memory Program and adjunct professor at Carleton, will co-lead a multimillion dollar segment of AGE-WELL that will develop technology for the prevention and reduction of disease and disability. As part of this research theme, Goubran and Knoefel will head a project called AMBI-MON, or Ambient-Based Physiological and Functional Monitoring, that will be conducted at Carleton University and the Bruyère Research Institute.
AMBI-MON will focus on the design and testing of innovative sensors that are built into common everyday household objects with the ability to measure various physiological and activity-based parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate and respiration rate, without any kind of effort from the user.
Examples of objects that will be designed with embedded sensors include floor tiles, appliances, door knobs, handrails and beds. The proposed technology has a distinct advantage in that it does not need to be worn or carried and requires no active input from the user or caregiver to collect data.
The federal investment is the result of the most recent competition in the NCE, which created four new networks and renewed one, bringing the total to 14. Carleton is also participating in another network, CANet, which is based in London, Ont. and focused on combating heart rhythm disturbances affecting millions of Canadians that result in sudden deaths and reduced quality of life.
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