Speakers:

• Dr. Lili Liu, AGE-WELL Challenge Area Lead, Autonomy & Independence, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo
• Dr. Noelannah Neubauer, Occupational Therapist, Alberta Health Services, Research Assistant, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo
• Ms. Tracey McGillivray, Co-founder & CEO, Axtion Independence Mobility Inc.
• Dr. Jennifer Campos, Associate Scientific Director, AGE-WELL

Description: While many older adults will retire in good health, 89% will live with at least one chronic condition for which they may require varying levels of assistance. Technology can help people maintain their autonomy and independence, even in the face of impairment, disability or illness.

Webinar participants will learn about:

• What it means to be autonomous and independent
• How AgeTech can help older adults make their own decisions and maintain independence
• The fascinating future: challenges and exciting possibilities

Speaker Bios:

• Dr. Lili Liu is Lead of the AGE-WELL Challenge Area focused on autonomy and independence. An AGE-WELL researcher, she is co-author of Autonomy and Independence: Aging in an Era of Technology. Dr. Liu is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo. She leads the Aging and Innovation Research Program at UWaterloo. Her research focuses on technologies to support older adults with complex care needs, as well as health care aides in the home and community care sector.
• Dr. Noelannah Neubauer is a research assistant with the Aging and Innovation Research Program (AIRP) at the University of Waterloo. She also works as an Occupational Therapist-System Case Manager in Edmonton Zone with Alberta Health Services’ Home Living Program. Dr. Neubauer specializes in multi-method and community-based research methods, and their application with older adults and persons living with dementia. Her research interests include health system navigation, dementia, wayfinding, assistive technologies, policy and aging in place.
• Ms. Tracey McGillivray, MEDI, MBA, BCSS, is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axtion Independence Mobility Inc. Tracey spent over three decades as a recognised leader in the technology industry before retiring in 2019. She led two multinational IT companies to the top of the technology services business as assessed by the leading third-party market analysts. Upon retirement, Tracey obtained a Master of Economic Development and Innovation from the University of Waterloo, where she received the Economic Development Award and the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development Award of Excellence and Merit. Tracey’s experience and education have parlayed into the entrepreneurial world with a clear focus: designing and producing affordable and transformative devices to help older adults maintain their independence and dignity.
• Dr. Jennifer Campos is an Associate Scientific Director at AGE-WELL. She is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Multisensory Integration and Aging. Dr. Campos is the Associate Director-Academic, Senior Scientist, and Chief Scientist of the Challenging Environments Assessment Laboratory at KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on enhancing safe mobility during walking and driving under realistic and challenging conditions. This includes understanding how age-related sensory impairments (e.g., vision, hearing) and cognitive impairments can increase the risk of falls and vehicle collisions (e.g., in healthy older adults, those with hearing loss, dementia). She uses virtual reality and simulation technologies to a) carefully recreate real-world conditions and challenges to promote the generalizability of research outcomes to real-world applications and b) adapt these technologies for training and rehabilitation interventions. Dr. Campos is also the Director of the KITE Young Innovators youth outreach program. An AGE-WELL Project Lead, she also coordinates UHN training initiatives with AGE-WELL’s EPIC program.