Unprecedented Study Investigates Aging Well

The largest and most comprehensive study on health and aging ever undertaken in Canada is gathering momentum in Victoria with the official opening of a data collection site for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) at the Gorge Road Hospital on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Researchers from the University of Victoria’s Centre on Aging will oversee data collected every three years from 3,000 Victoria residents aged 45-85 who will be randomly selected and invited to participate through home interviews and physical assessments. The Victoria site is also home to a computer-assisted telephone interviewing centre that will collect information from another 2,500 BC participants by phone.

The CLSA is a 20-year collaborative project involving 11 data collection sites at universities and research institutes across Canada. To date, more than 21,000 participants have been recruited, with a goal of 50,000 by 2015.

“The scope of this ambitious study is unprecedented and the timing is perfect since the numbers of older adults will double over the next two decades,” says Debra Sheets, an associate professor in UVic’s School of Nursing and the Centre on Aging’s CLSA site co-lead investigator in Victoria. “The CLSA will provide data that will help us better understand the factors that shape health and quality of life as people age.”

Media and the public are invited to an open house at the data collection site from 2-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 at the hospital, 63 Gorge Road East, 4th floor boardroom. The event will include tours of the clinic, as well as demonstrations of the state-of-the-art equipment and assessment tools.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are funding the study, with additional support from provincial governments, affiliated universities and research institutions, and the Vancouver Island Health Authority in BC.

For more information on the CLSA, visit www.clsa-elcv.ca.

Media: Researchers and study participants will be available for interviews/photos.

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