Did you know that New Brunswick has one of the oldest populations in the country? Canadians are living longer than ever before, and we need to be ready to support our aging population.
The Healthy Seniors Pilot Project (HSPP) is a $75 million agreement between the Government of New Brunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada jointly led by the Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Social Development and the Department of Health through the Seniors and Healthy Aging Secretariat.
HSPP supports a range of applied research initiatives to examine how governments, in partnership with the research community, non-profits and private sector, can better support seniors in their homes, communities and care facilities. This project will help us better understand the gendered impacts on an aging population, improve the quality of life for our seniors and help us lay the groundwork for the dissemination of evidenced-based best practices in supporting healthy aging for all Canadians.
Projects funded through the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project will undergo an impartial, comprehensive process and outcome evaluation. These evaluations will be conducted by the Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Transfer Unit established in partnership with the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training at the University of New Brunswick. This unit will ensure that each project has an evaluation plan and that lessons learned from the completed projects are shared across the country.
In February 2021, the provincial and federal governments announced 39 applied research projects that have been approved under the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project. These projects aim to support healthy aging for seniors in their homes, communities, and care facilities. All submissions were subject to an evaluation and scoring process that included a review by experts from across the country.
The projects were launched to support the following outcomes:
- Improving social and physical environments to foster healthy aging by designing spaces, systems, and infrastructure to enable seniors to live independently and healthily. (seven projects)
- Reducing health inequalities by promoting access to health and social support among those who speak a minority language, people in rural communities and seniors with specific health conditions. (nine projects)
- Initiatives which support a healthy lifestyle, wellness, independence and a good quality of life by providing support for physical activity, nutrition, injury prevention, and mental wellness. (six projects)
- Using supportive technologies to foster healthy aging by integrating emerging and existing technology into the range of health and social support services and equipment that seniors and /or their caregivers can use in their homes and care facilities. (five projects)
- Create innovative care pathways to improve options, access, timeliness, and efficiencies when delivering health and social support services. (12 projects)
Of the $75 million dedicated to the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project, the 39 approved research projects represent an investment of $49.9 million. Funding is allocated to cover operational costs of the projects, as well as costs associated with research teams, technical resources, and evaluation processes. The final Call for Proposals closed on May 11, 2021. Results will be communicated once the review and approval process is complete.