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Network Talks Policy Rounds Past Webinars
Network Talk
Stay tuned for Network Talks in 2021.
Policy Rounds
AGE-WELL NCE and the AGE-WELL National Innovation Hub Advancing Policies and Practices in Technology and Aging (APPTA) are jointly launching Policy Rounds this fall. Featuring unique 30-minute presentations from researchers and trainees, Policy Rounds will share knowledge and discuss the policy implications of the latest research in the AgeTech sector.

Speaker: Dr. Meshari F. Alwashmi, Chief Scientific Officer, BreatheSuite
Description: This webinar will cover the perceptions of patients and health care professionals regarding the adoption of innovative digital health interventions for chronic disease management. These facilitators and barriers are vital to inform the successful development and implementation of digital health interventions for chronic disease management.
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Speaker: Laura Tamblyn-Watts, CEO of CanAge
Description: CanAge is Canada’s independent nonprofit seniors’ advocacy organization. Participants will learn about the VOICES roadmap which aims to spark system change by highlighting scalable innovative practices and laying the groundwork for an age-inclusive Canada.
Register Here
Speaker: Shane Saunderson, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Description: Robots have already had a massive impact on our world and, as we learn to make them more social, are poised to evolve our hospitals, schools, businesses, and homes. However, given the potential for these robots to change the very fabric of our society and interactions, we have a responsibility to approach their deployment in a considered and collaborative way. Technology can bring with it great change, good and bad, and technology with a face, even more so.
Register Here
Past Webinars

Speakers: Kesa Shikaze, Executive Director, Seniors & Housing, Government of Alberta; Barb McMillan, Provincial Coordinator – Community Engagement, United Way of Lower Mainland; Karen McDonald, Community-Based Senior Serving Leadership Council Chair; and Mariam Elghahuagi, Seniors Engagement and Communications Advisor, United Way of Calgary
Description: Originally launched in 2018 in BC, followed by a launch in 2020 in Alberta, the Collaborative Online Resources and Education (CORE) platform is a digital knowledge hub that’s been developed to support seniors-serving organizations in both provinces to connect with each other, share resources and best practices, and much more! Please join us for a discussion about the collaborative partnerships forged between community organizations and government in each province as well as across jurisdictions, and learn more about how the CORE platform has been leveraged to support the seniors serving sector throughout the pandemic.

Speaker: Dr. Claudine Auger, Associate Professor, Université de Montréal
Description: This presentation will discuss the various partnership strategies that lead to engaging health care centers and the Ministry of Health and Social Services in Quebec in supporting a large–scale implementation study of a web-based intervention for older adults with mobility limitations.
Watch Here
Date: December 3rd, 2020 at 1:00 pm ET
Speaker: Amanda Jenkins, PhD, Research Coordinator, OA-INVOLVE
Description: The OA-INVOLVE project documents best practices of involving older adults in technology research and development with the aim to establish guidelines for older adult engagement. The active involvement of older adults in the research and development of technologies for older adults has scientific, commercial, and broader societal benefits. However, due to barriers such as lengthy ethics approvals at universities, lack of researcher training in participatory methods, and restrictive funding structures, older adults are often not engaged in the development of technologies from the beginning. In this presentation, we explore these barriers and how institutional policies can be changed to better support researchers in meaningfully engaging older adults throughout the research process.

Speaker: Dr. Noelannah Neubauer, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Waterloo
Description: The number of missing persons living with dementia is on the rise and is quickly becoming one of the top populations that are being reported missing to police around the world. As we begin to identify and develop strategies to mitigate the risks of getting lost among this group, we will need policies to support their implementation. The purpose of this webinar will be to share our research team’s aims and experiences as it pertains to mobilizing international partnerships through networks to inform dementia and missing persons policies.

Speaker: Shabnam Haghzare, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Description: While the race to bring automated vehicles to the market continues to accelerate, the societal implications of the wide use of this technology have not yet been fully addressed. Notably, developing licencing requirements that can accommodate individuals of all capabilities have been identified as one of the necessary first steps by the Canadian government. This talk will provide an overview of an AGE-WELL project on the use of automated vehicles by older adults and discuss the potential implications on licencing guidelines.

Speaker: Dr. Cosmin Munteanu, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Description: Older adults (65+), who are already at risk of social isolation and loneliness, are at increasing risks of also being “digitally isolated”. The fast-changing landscape of services being transitioned to a primarily digital format (especially services essential to this demographic, from health, to financial, and to personal/social connectivity) may in fact lead to older adults’ digital marginalization. In our AGE-WELL research, we have been investigating inclusive design methods such as the participatory design of interactive applications. However, in our investigation of industry practices and policies, we have also uncovered barriers to the adoption of such methods by developers and designers. We reflect here on the value of such approaches and the limitations of relying exclusively on market forces to address barriers to the use of these design methods. We then describe our emerging research on the policy and procurement changes that may bring meaningful and structurally sustainable changes to the inclusive and ethical development of AgeTech.
Stay Tuned for Slides
Speaker: Dr. Karen Kobayashi, Professor/ Associate Dean, University of Victoria
Description: In this presentation we will discuss how our implementation science team is working with policymakers, i.e., the BC Ministry of Health and provincial health authorities, to examine the scale up, spread and sustainability of assistive technologies (ATs) for older adults and their caregivers in the province. In particular, we will highlight how policy partners:
- Supported and enabled the research team
- Had a direct impact on improving the assessment and evaluation of innovative ATs for older adults
- Helped the appropriate implementation of ATs in home and community-care settings

Speaker: Dr. Josephine McMurray, Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
Description: As the workforce ages, there will be an exponential rise in the number of workers who develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early onset dementia (EOD) while on the job. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasizes that reasonable accommodation must be provided to individuals with disabilities such as MCI|EOD, so that they may be able to enjoy equal opportunity in the workplace. Dr. McMurray will provide a high-level summary of the Cog@Work team’s research into the science behind employers’ response to this “rising tide”, and the Canadian policy environment which guides them.
Stay Tuned for Slides
Speaker: Dr. Michael Wilson, Associate Professor, McMaster University
Download Slides
Date: October 1, 2020, 1 pm ET
Link: https://youtu.be/M4jQO7d5vBQ
Date: August 11, 2020
Link: https://youtu.be/r8oVsOQBaVg
Date: July 8, 2020
Link: https://youtu.be/pzGo9totddU
Date: May 20, 2020
Link: https://youtu.be/VrTUu32a6sQ
Date: February 19, 2019
Link: https://youtu.be/LWkmjQbTGJU
Date: June 11, 2019
Link: https://youtu.be/OnjQ4PtGFQ4
Date: September 19, 2019
Link: https://youtu.be/TS02ba0bTao
Date: September 18, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/6Vh3PBptfBU
Date: August 21, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/0dlm4UHed04
Date: July 5, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/PVeEJrejOW4
Date: June 13, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/UiT9ISOz6_w
Date: May 15, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/FIrXTr0iPls
Date: April 9, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/VPv4AGuuvC4
Date: February 22, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/kAlf4HGPi3k
Date: February 22, 2018
Link: https://youtu.be/lGkh5ihNXJs
Date: December 6, 2017
Link: https://youtu.be/2EGQMPbSKKk
Date: November 14, 2017
Link: https://youtu.be/PWd5_yxxBnQ
Date: October 3, 2017
Link: https://youtu.be/p48JOEQ9s1o