Summer Program in Aging 2025 on training a healthcare workforce to meet the needs of older adults
The CIHR-IA Summer Program in Aging (SPA) is an intensive 5-day capacity-building program with the aim of providing graduate trainees with advanced training that crosses disciplines, offers networking opportunities, and disseminates best practices in research. SPA has been held yearly across Canada since 2006 on a different strategic theme each year. The program brings together up to 40 research trainees and numerous academic mentors to participate in interactive learning sessions over the course of one week. The strategic theme for SPA 2025 will be Training a Healthcare Workforce to Meet the Needs of Older Adults.
The needs of older adults are changing across several important dimensions. Not only is the scale of our need increasing rapidly as the population ages, the Canadian healthcare workforce faces new challenges due to a rise in globalization, pandemic-related pressures and associated caregiver burnout, as well as financial challenges. Simultaneously, technological developments have provided a growing suite of digital solutions designed to meet the needs of older adults. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare training and program developments are evidence-based, effective, and engaging to successfully meet these complex needs and challenges. To accomplish this, researchers must be equipped with holistic core competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) regarding aging, the care systems and workforce that serve older adults and caregivers, and interprofessional research approaches and stakeholders in order to inform, develop, pilot, implement, and/or evaluate new healthcare workforce training.
SPA 2025 will be hosted by the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education in Toronto, Ontario, from June 8-13 2025. It will be held at Baycrest, which consists of a variety of research, healthcare and residential settings to meet the needs of older adults, all on one campus.
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