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Workpackage 4 - Cross cutting Initiatives

Lead Investigator: Andrew Sixsmith (Canada)
Team Members: Alex Mihailidis (U of T), Arlene Astell (St. Andrews), Louise Nygard (KI)
Collaborators: IRMACS (SFU), SPARC Unit (TRI)

This work package will address the two key challenges that have limited AAL research: 1) the need to support transdisciplinary and cross-national team-working; and 2) the need to develop effective engagement and knowledge exchange with stakeholders.


Objectives
To address the above challenges AAL-WELL will have a major emphasis on “crosscutting” activities in WP4:

(i) Develop an international and transdisciplinary network of collaborators to share best practice and expertise, promote knowledge building and knowledge transfer by working together with various stakeholder groups (comprising end users, their families and, where relevant caregivers, policy makers and health care administrators.

(ii) Commercialize AAL products and services resulting from this project by exploring the barriers and facilitators to the uptake of AAL by older adults and determining how AAL can be effectively exploited?

(iii) Develop training initiatives to build research capacity, skills and expertise amongst highly-qualified personnel in the area of technology in relation to people with MCI.


Deliverables
This Workpackage will deliver the following:

(i) Roadmap and priorities for AAL research within the team, which will help to guide the project and its outcomes;

(ii) Conceptual framework for AAL that will be used by the research team throughout the project to plan current and future research, and that will be useful to the greater AAL community;

(iii) Workshop consensus reports that will provide details on the work that has been completed by the team and that will help to outline future research priorities in the AAL field;

(iv) AAL-WELL market analysis that will be used to strengthen technology transfer and commercialization efforts;

(v) Detailed KT Plan that will inform our stakeholders and the AAL community of our findings and future research plans.


Innovations
WP4 extends ideas of multi/interdisciplinary research by adopting a transdisciplinary approach based on action learning and appreciative inquiry methods. The core team will also involve active participation by stakeholders to ensure that research agendas are based in the “real-world”. WP4 aims to go beyond traditional approaches to knowledge translation by adopting a thorough philosophy of partnership working, namely the building of “knowledge communities”, placing the principles of community sharing and joint working at its core. This will provide the foundations for progress of knowledge development and translation of knowledge into policy and practice beyond the span of the project.


AAL-WELL, An ERA-AGE2 Funded Project