TRU board gives approval to new aging health research centre

Photo: TRU

Thompson Rivers University will be getting a new research centre with the aim of finding ways to improve the health of older adults living in rural areas.

The proposed Population Health and Aging Rural Research Centre received final approval from the university’s board of governors on Thursday afternoon.

The aim of the centre is to develop partnerships and provide education and training opportunities. Interdisciplinary research will be prioritized to help guide research questions and strategies.

"We have a small suite of research centres at TRU and this, I would say, is a welcome addition to the fold,” TRU president Brett Fairbairn said to the board.

The new research centre will be headed up by Dr. Juanita-Dawne Bascu, an assistant professor in the university’s school of nursing and a Canadian Research Chair in nursing and population health.

The centre would host events to showcase its work, create a newsletter, podcast and seminar series, hold an annual symposium, create internship opportunities for TRU students and develop an interdisciplinary course on population health.

The research centre’s proposed budget is just over $128,000, nearly $89,000 of which has been secured from a variety of internal and external sources.

The centre will be housed in the school of nursing and will include researchers from the faculties of education and social work, arts and science.

The centre was brought before the board after receiving support from the university’s senate in February.