Partner Linkage Tool: Evaluating community-based programs and social innovations that support aging in the community Funding Opportunity
The overall purpose of this funding opportunity is to evaluate established community-based programs and social innovations that support aging in the community, with the aim of generating co-created and actionable evidence to strengthen community health systems and enhance the health span and overall well-being of older persons living in the community.
Applicants will be required to partner with an applicant partner that is administrating the community-based program. CIHR is providing a Partner Linkage Tool to facilitate connections between applicants and community-based organizations that are involved in delivering programs and/or social innovations that support aging in the community.
If you are an organization that is interested in this funding opportunity, we invite you to complete the Partner Linkage Tool online form. Your entry will be posted below and the tool will be updated weekly until the application deadline. Applicants can browse profiles and contact listed organizations directly to explore potential partnerships.
Please note that this Partner Linkage Tool is solely for organizations who deliver an established community-based programs and social innovations that support aging in the community.
Disclaimer: Organizations, programs, and contacts listed in this tool are provided for informational and networking purposes only. Their inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by CIHR, nor does it indicate that they have been assessed or confirmed for funding opportunity eligibility, or relevance. Applicants are responsible for determining whether potential partners meet the requirements and objectives of the funding opportunity.
Use of this tool is optional. Applicants may also pursue partnerships outside of those listed. Information is provided voluntarily and does not influence the evaluation or funding decisions. Profiles are displayed in the language in which they were submitted.
Below is a list of community-based organizations who have expressed interest in collaborating on a grant application to the “Evaluating community-based programs and social innovations that support aging in the community” funding opportunity.
Notice
The information is provided in the language in which it was submitted by the respondent.
| Contact Information: Name of Organization/ Institution/ Partner Location Name Phone |
Type of Community-Based Organization (e.g., community service organization, non-profit, charity, community-health organization, Indigenous organization, living lab) | Area of focus that the program or social innovation aims to address | Brief description of program or social innovation to be evaluated, including population(s) served, setting, goals, and any other relevant details | Any additional details related to the partnership you would like to establish | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Main info@mainhealthconsulting.ca Canadian Home Care Association |
Non-profit | Evaluation of community-based social prescribing and navigation models that support older adults to remain connected, access non-clinical supports, reduce isolation, support caregivers, and age safely in community. | Seeking academic and community partners to co-develop an evaluation of an established social prescribing, navigation, or transition-support model for older adults, with a focus on implementation, outcomes, equity, caregiver support, and aging in community. |
|
CHCA is beginning broader work to spread social prescribing and better leverage home care as a pathway to community-based supports for older adults and caregivers. We are seeking academic and community partners to identify and evaluate models with strong potential for scale/spread. |
| Jennifer Tindall jen@artyourservice.org 416-500-3435 AYS Online Community for Thriving Adults |
community service organization | AYS runs daily live Zoom programming for older adults across Canada: fitness, creative arts, health lectures, talks, and social connection. Addresses mobility, rural isolation, and weather barriers keeping people from in-person programming. | Looking for an academic lead applicant to partner with AYS as the community-based organization. AYS would provide programme access, member reach, and in-kind contribution for a formal outcomes evaluation of an established six-year-old service. |
AYS has run daily live virtual programming for older adults across Canada since 2020. Population: older adults across Canada, including those in rural areas, isolated seniors, and people managing chronic illness Setting: live Zoom, delivered nationally, with 13 municipal partners in Ontario Goals:
|
AYS is a social enterprise, not a nonprofit, so we need an academic partner to lead the application. Happy to share our municipal partnership data on request. |
| Allison Davis ed@spencerhouse.ca 902-421-6131 Spencer House Seniors Centre |
registered charity and community hub for seniors | Supporting older adults to age well in their own communities through social connection, neighbourhood-based programming, navigation, food security, volunteer engagement, and practical supports that help people stay healthy, independent, and connected | We welcome a partnership with a researcher who is interested in evaluating what we are building at our hub. We can provide access to programs, staff, volunteers, participants, community partners, and operational data to help generate meaningful evidence that can strengthen community-based healthy aging. | Spencer House is a community-based seniors' hub helping older adults age well and remain independent in their communities. Our integrated model combines social connection, neighbourhood-based OASIS (NORC) programming, a senior-centre-without-walls, navigation, food security, wellness programs, and volunteer engagement. We support older adults experiencing isolation, barriers to services, or increasing challenges to aging in place. Our goal is to connect people before they reach a crisis, strengthen community support networks, improve access to services, and help older adults remain active, connected, and healthy. We want to evaluate how this model improves health, connection, and independence, and identify what can be strengthened and replicated in other communities. Spencer House | Our programs have grown organically over the past several years in response to what older adults have told us they need. We are looking for a research partner who is interested in evaluating real-world community work and helping identify what is working, why it works, and how it could be strengthened and shared with other communities. |
| Ginger Grant, PhD. gingergrant@icloud.com 647-983-9799 Age-Friendly Niagara Council |
Federal non-profit | The Age-Friendly Niagara Council (AFNC) focuses on social innovation as a practical strategy for helping Niagara respond to the realities and opportunities of an aging population. | Through this work, AFNC aims to position Niagara as a leading Canadian region for age-friendly innovation, demonstrating how communities can respond proactively to demographic change while strengthening belonging, participation, and wellbeing for all generations. We have approximately 3500 active senior subscribers. | A key area of focus is building Niagara’s “Longevity Economy” — recognizing older adults as active contributors to social, cultural, civic, and economic life. AFNC supports initiatives that encourage social participation, intergenerational equity and learning, volunteerism, workforce participation, community navigation, social prescribing, digital inclusion, and accessible community design. AFNC acts as a regional convener and catalyst. It pilots new models, supports partnership development, mobilizes knowledge, and helps align organizations around shared priorities without replacing the work of existing agencies. Its social innovation approach combines research, community engagement, systems thinking, and applied action to identify gaps, test new ideas, and scale promising practices. | Niagara Region is Canada's fastest growing retirement community. AFNC positions research as a tool for action. Its approach emphasizes practical outcomes, community benefit, and scalable models that can inform regional planning and future investment using evidence-based data. |
| Gloria Mulwa gmulwa@elliottcommunity.org 519-822-0491 ext.2242 The Elliott Community |
The Elliott Community | Three established programs for evaluation:
|
We seek an enduring research partnerships that extend beyond a single grant. Of particular value: a strong track record in research on aging; an active program of work spanning community-based and care settings; and an approach that positions community-based organizations as co-creators of evidence. | Three established programs, evaluable individually or as an integrated continuum where they co-mingle: ALC hospital-to-community transitions: five year partnership with Guelph General Hospital (since April 2021), embedded in an integrated community of care rather than an isolated bed service. Multi-tier non-profit housing (Life Lease, Independent and Assisted Retirement Living): an applied aging-in-place model where the community stays consistent as care levels adjust; wellbeing rather than return drives design. In-house scratch kitchen serving older adults across all living options, uncommon in the seniors housing sector. Largest fresh produce consumer among homes in Guelph and Wellington County. Food as connective experience against social isolation. | The 3 programs proposed for evaluation do not sit in isolation. They are embedded within a broader community spanning social connection, cultural participation, health promotion, inclusive transportation, care navigation and technology. Evaluation would sit within this integrated setting that supports people with varying care needs to age in place. |
| Megan Wallace ssgl2@gnalc.ca 204-334-4775 Good Neighbours Active Living Centre |
Non profit charity- multiple community based programs | The Centre itself is a community focal point plus outreach services: Seniors Resource Finder: community outreach Supports to seniors: direct in home/community programming/education and resources Home Maintenance: seniors working for seniors. | to be discussed. | ages 55+ we can check ALL the boxes for who is in our diverse community and the programs we offer. | added our info early, looking for the researcher we can work with. |
| Christine Gordon christine.gordon@hpco.ca 416-736-6065 Hospice Palliative Care Ontario |
non-profit | Hospices offer a range of services that may include in-home visiting hospice programs, day hospice programs, caregiver support, grief and bereavement services, spiritual care, complementary therapies, volunteer support or residential hospice care. | HPCO is seeking partnerships with researchers, research teams, trainees, and people with lived and living experience interested in evaluating innovations and existing programs in hospice palliative care. We are interested in establishing long-term relationships to advance hospice palliative care research. | Hospices in Ontario provide hospice palliative care services that help people living with life-limiting illnesses and support their families and caregivers. Their focus is on improving quality of life, relieving suffering, and helping people live as fully and comfortably as possible, regardless of diagnosis. Many hospices in Ontario have well-established community-based programs designed to support aging in the community. HPCO can contribute: Access to a provincial network of hospice organizations and service providers Connections to patients, caregivers, volunteers, and community partners Knowledge user and implementation partner expertise Assistance with recruitment and stakeholder engagement Knowledge mobilization and dissemination support Access to existing provincial tools and data | HPCO is a provincial association and registered charity representing hospice palliative care providers across Ontario. We work with hospice residences, visiting hospice programs, day hospice programs, grief and bereavement services, volunteers, healthcare providers, caregivers, and people with lived experience. |
| Erin Winsor erin@artsandaging.com 709-763-6634 The Arts and Aging Network |
charity | The Arts and Aging Approach is a dementia-inclusive, person-first framework that recognizes the individual before the diagnosis and uses play, humour, creativity, and authentic human connection to foster meaningful engagement, belonging, and well-being | Looking for a researcher to partner with us in defining, evaluating, and validating the Arts and Aging Approach. We hope to build a long-term, community-engaged research partnership that explores its impact, transferability, and implementation across diverse settings. | Innovation: The Arts and Aging Approach - a dementia-inclusive, person-first, playful, positive, creativity-based framework that fosters meaningful engagement through authentic human connection. Primary populations served: Older adults, including people living with dementia. Secondary populations: Caregivers, youth, volunteers, artists, students, and professionals who learn and apply the approach while building meaningful relationships with older adults. Settings: Long-term care, personal care homes, community organizations, healthcare, schools, and intergenerational programs. Research goal: Define, evaluate, and validate the Arts and Aging Approach as a transferable framework that can be taught, implemented, and adapted across sectors. Website: The Arts & Aging Network | We didn't set out to create a framework. We developed one through years of community practice. Others have observed that it's different. Now we're looking for a research partner to help define, evaluate, and build the evidence base for the Arts and Aging Approach. |
| Bibi Babatunde bibi.babatunde@shipshey.ca 437-318-4185 Services and Housing In the Province (SHIP) |
community service organization | Evaluation of community-based housing, health, and social support programs that help older adults with mental health and substance use challenges age in place while improving quality of life, health equity, and community connectedness. | Seeking an academic research partner eligible to act as Principal Investigator for a CIHR application. SHIP will provide program expertise, access to participants and existing data, implementation support, and knowledge mobilization. We are interested in collaborators with expertise in aging, health equity, housing, mental health, evaluation, and implementation science. Researchers with experience in community-based participatory research, health systems research, and underserved populations are particularly encouraged to connect. | Services and Housing In the Province (SHIP) supports older adults across Peel and Dufferin through housing and community-based support services. Focus areas include supportive housing, aging in place, mental health, substance use, social connectedness, and health equity. Established programs include: Nance Horwood Place (supportive housing for older adults) Integrated Seniors Team (IST), an intensive community-based seniors support program Emerging intergenerational seniors programming connected to Peel Youth Village Population served: adults aged 55+ experiencing mental health and/or substance use challenges. Existing demographic, health equity, and program utilization data available. Website: Services and Housing In the Province. | Programs are established, actively utilized, and beyond the pilot stage. SHIP is interested in generating actionable evidence to strengthen service delivery, improve health outcomes, support equitable aging in place, and identify opportunities for broader scale and system impact. |
| Hope and Healing Network Society hopeandhealingn@gmail.com 236-513-9839 |
registered Canadian charity, a community-based non-profit organization, community mental health organization | Supporting older adults aging in the community through mental health support, social connection, companionship, practical assistance, and culturally responsive services that reduce isolation and promote independence and well-being. | We seek a research partner with expertise in aging, mental health, social isolation, and community-based research to collaboratively evaluate our program, measure outcomes and impact, and generate evidence to strengthen and expand supports for older adults aging in the community. | Hope and Healing Network Society provides community-based support for older adults, with a focus on mental health, social connection, independence, and well-being. The program supports seniors experiencing isolation, loneliness, limited social support, and barriers to accessing community resources. Services include mental health and emotional support, companionship, social support, practical assistance, and connection to appropriate community resources. Services are delivered in community-based and accessible settings based on individual needs. The program aims to reduce social isolation, strengthen well-being and social connection, and help older adults maintain independence and age safely in their communities. Websites: Hope & Healing Network, Hope And Healing Network Society (Charitable Impact) | We welcome collaboration with researchers committed to co-design and meaningful engagement with older adults. Our organization can contribute community-based knowledge, practical experience, and direct involvement in program delivery to support a rigorous, relevant, and actionable evaluation. |
- Date modified: