Aging, Community and Health Research Group (ACHRU)

McMaster University

Aging, Community and Health Research Unit

    Our vision: Working together with older adults with multiple chronic conditions and their family caregivers to promote optimal aging at home.

    The Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU) designs, evaluates and translates innovative community-based interventions to improve access to health care, health-related quality of life, and health outcomes for people 65 years and older with more than one chronic condition.

    Our research focuses on chronic conditions such as dementia, depression, diabetes and stroke. The research program includes our valued patient and caregiver research partners, more than 40 investigators and decision-makers, staff and trainees.

    ACHRU was created with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Community-Based Primary Health Care Signature Initiative and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health System Research Fund Program Award. ACHRU continues to build on this research program with funding from the Max Bell Foundation, Ontario SPOR Support Unit (OSSU), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): Catalyst Fund and Pan-Canadian SPOR Network in Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations (PIHCI), Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative, Labarge Foundation, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), and Diabetes Action Canada.

    Click here to learn more about our research studies.

     

    MIRA | Collaborative for Health & Aging

    Our Co-Scientific Director Maureen Markle-Reid, is also Co-Scientific Director of the MIRA | Collaborative for Health & Aging. This OSSU Research Centre in Aging, brings together world-class researchers from ACHRU and the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA). The mandate of the collaborative is to build capacity and advance Ontario’s health care system by using an integrated, coordinated, and people-centered approach.

    Click here to learn more about the Collaborative

    Scientific Directors

    • Maureen Markle-Reid Maureen Markle-Reid, RN, PhD
      Professor and Canada Research Chair in Person Centred Interventions for Older Adults with Multimorbidity and their Caregivers,
      McMaster University School of Nursing,
      Scientific Co-Lead, MIRA/Collaborative for Health and Aging (OSSU SPOR Research Centre)
    • Jenny Ploeg Jenny Ploeg, RN, PhD
      Professor,
      McMaster University School of Nursing,
      Department of Health, Aging and Society

    Learn more

    MIRA | Collaborative for Health & Aging webinar series: Pivoting a large-scale aging research initiative due to the COVID-19 pandemic

    Drs. Brenda Vrkljan and Marla Beauchamp present the first MIRA | Collaborative for Health & Aging webinar on Friday February 26, 2021, 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

    Read More

    Older caregivers struggling with extra burdens of home care during COVID-19

    Former ACHRU trainee Anna Garnett and ACHRU co-investigator Melissa Northwood have authored the article in the Conversation along with Ruheena Sangrar of the University of Manitoba.

    Read More

    Next Canada Research Chair Seminar: Methodological considerations for the use of distinct quantitative and qualitative samples in mixed methodological health research

    Vanier Canada Scholar and PhD student Carly Whitmore will present the next Canada Research Chair Seminar on Thursday February 18th, 2021, 12:00pm - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, online via Zoom.

    Read More