1 November 2016

A Sherbrooke researcher has been awarded more than $1M over five years by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to foster the social participation of the elderly.

P^r Jean-Pierre Perreault, vice-president of research and higher studies, of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Sherbrooke University (FMSS), Nicole Dubuc, directrice du Research Center on Aging (CdRV), Mélanie Levasseur, Professor-Researcher at  Rehabillitation School of FMSS and at the CdRV of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, Denise Lavigne, a Sherbrooke resident who participated in a pilot study of the program, and Dre Mélissa Généreux, Public Health Director at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS

With this grant, Mélanie Levasseur, Professor-Researcher at Université de Sherbrooke and at the Research Centre on Aging (CdRV) of the integrated health and social services centre for the Estrie region (Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l’Estrie – Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke or CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS), will work with her team to validate three types of intervention:

Personalized coaching to promote the community integration of individuals
Enable seniors who are living at home and experiencing a loss of autonomy to pursue social and recreational activities through weekly three-hour individual meetings with a coach.

Lifestyle Redesign
Preventive occupational therapy intervention to develop healthy and meaningful routines through group meetings and individual counselling with an occupational therapist.

Public health for seniors
Identification of the environmental attributes most conducive to active and healthy aging – urban spatial organization, proximity of recreation centres, pedestrian environment, etc. – based on the Estrie region’s population health survey.

Source: Université de Sherbrooke