Knowledge, Innovation, and Impact

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

   PDF

2. Thinking About Impact

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Introduction: The Engaged Health Researcher—Why and How to Use This Book

      • Andrew Sixsmith, Judith Sixsmith, Alex Mihailidis, Mei Lan Fang

      Pages 3-8

   3. Thinking Innovatively About Innovation Research

      • Andrew Sixsmith, Alex Mihailidis, Mei Lan Fang, Judith Sixsmith

      Pages 9-16

   4. Understanding the Product Innovation Pathway

      • Andrew Sixsmith, Judith Sixsmith, Mei Lan Fang, Alex Mihailidis

      Pages 17-23

   5. An Introduction to Transdisciplinary Working

      • Alisa Grigorovich, Pia Kontos, Judith Sixsmith, Mei Lan Fang, Mineko Wada

      Pages 25-32

   6. Knowledge Mobilization for an Engaged Researcher

      • Igor Gontcharov, Karen Kobayashi, Amanda Grenier

      Pages 33-42

3. Part II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-46

      PDF

   2. Building Partnerships and Co-creating with Diverse Stakeholders

      • Mei Lan Fang, Alisa Grigorovich, Mineko Wada, Pia Kontos, Judith Sixsmith

      Pages 47-58

   3. Case Study: A Community-Based Approach to Developing Optimal Housing for Low-Income Older Adults

      • Mei Lan Fang, Judith Sixsmith, Ryan Woolrych, Sarah Canham, Lupin Battersby, Tori Hui Ren et al.

      Pages 59-63

   4. Learning Activity: Taking the Guesswork Out of Stakeholders—Creating an Actor Model

      • Andrew Sixsmith

      Pages 65-67

   5. Working Together as a Transdisciplinary Team

      • Judith Sixsmith, Mei Lan Fang, Alisa Grigorovich, Mineko Wada, Pia Kontos

      Pages 69-76

   6. Learning Activity: Essentials of Teamwork

      • Euson Yeung

      Pages 77-80

   7. Engaging Hard-to-Reach, Hidden, and Seldom-Heard Populations in Research

      • Shannon Freeman, Kelly Skinner, Laura Middleton, Beibei Xiong, Mei Lan Fang

      Pages 81-91

   8. Case Study 1: The Nak’azdli Lha’hutit’en Project—Creating Digital Stories with Elders and Youth in Nak’azdli First Nation

      • Shannon Freeman, Kelly Skinner, Jenny Martin, Simone Hausknecht

      Pages 93-95

   9. Case Study 2: Engaging Youth in a Needs Assessment for Programming and Evaluation

      • Kelly Skinner, Kristin Burnett, Erin Pratley, Barbara Parker, Brenda Dovick

      Pages 97-100

   10. Learning Activity: Learning How to Include Hard-to-Reach, Hidden, and Seldom-Heard Populations in Research

       • Shannon Freeman, Martha MacLeod

       Pages 101-106

   11. Building Relationships with Hard-to-Reach, Hidden, and Seldom-Heard Populations in Research

       • Shannon Freeman, Kelly Skinner, Laura Middleton, Beibei Xiong, Mei Lan Fang

       Pages 107-115

   12. Case Study: Creating Integrated Working Relationships with Frail Older People—The Smart Distress Monitor Project

       • Judith Sixsmith

       Pages 117-120

   13. Addressing Real-World Problems Through Transdisciplinary Working

       • Mineko Wada, Alisa Grigorovich, Pia Kontos, Mei Lan Fang, Judith Sixsmith

       Pages 121-129

This book provides researchers with a straightforward and accessible guide for carrying out research that will help them to combine good science with real-world impact. The format of this book is simple: concise chapters on key topics, examples and case studies, written in plain language that will guide researchers through the process of research-driven innovation. The book draws on the editors’ experience in leading the Age-Well Network of Excellence. The aim of Age-Well is to drive innovation in the area of technology and aging. Researchers often lack the knowledge and abilities to commercialize or mobilize the outcomes of their research.  Moreover, there is a lack of training and education resources suitable for the wide range of disciplines and experience that are becoming more typical. The book emphasizes the practicalities of “how to” undertake the kinds of activities that researchers should be engaging in if they are serious about achieving impact. Overall, this book will guide researchers through the process of research-driven innovation.

• innovation pipeline
• real-world impact
• product readiness
• engaged researcher
• transdisciplinary research
• transdisciplinary product development
• knowledge mobilization
• research-driven innovation
• imagination and commercialization
• research impact in social science
• innovation in technology and aging
• Age-Well Network of Excellence
• innovation to benefit society
• turning ideas into products and services
• defining and creating a market
• project management and administration
• managing intellectual property
• evaluating and demonstrating impact

• Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada

  Andrew Sixsmith

• School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK

  Judith Sixsmith, Mei Lan Fang

• Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Ontario, Canada

  Alex Mihailidis

Andrew Sixsmith, PhD, is the Director of the STAR Institute, and a Professor in the Gerontology Research Centre at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is the Secretariat of the International Society for Gerontechnology (ISG), the world’s foremost organisation for researchers in technology and aging, and is a Scientific Director of AGE-WELL NCE. Since 2000, Dr. Sixsmith has developed research and teaching links with 26 universities worldwide, and has actively collaborated with over 30 major commercial and government organisations. His research interests include development of technologies for independent living, modeling well-being of seniors, long-term care and theory, and methods in gerontology.

Alex Mihailidis, PhD, is the Principal Investigator and a joint Scientific Director of AGE-WELL and Barbara G. Stymiest Research Chair in Rehabilitation Technology at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – UHN/University of Toronto. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto (U of T) and holds a cross appointment in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. His research disciplines include biomedical and biochemical engineering, computer science, geriatrics and occupational therapy. 

Judith Sixsmith, PhD, is Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University if Dundee, Scotland and a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. She is an expert in qualitative methodologies and is experienced in working with marginalized groups using community-based participatory action research methods. Her research interests lie in the areas of public health and social care where she explores the ways in which people living in deprived communities experience processes of marginalisation within our social systems. Often working within collaborative, gendered,participatory and multi-disciplinary approaches, Dr. Sixsmith has directed several research projects on issues of healthy ageing, dementia, social capital, urban regeneration and social inclusion.

Mei Lan Fang, MPH, is a Research Fellow at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Dundee in Scotland. Her research focuses on three key areas: ageing in place, ageing and technology, and end of life care. Mei is also a visiting Research Associate at the Science of Technology for Aging Research (STAR) Institute, where she previously led a Vancouver Foundation funded community-based research project, Place-Making with Seniors: Towards Meaningful Affordable Housing. Mei is also completing her doctoral work at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland; investigating how individual experiences and histories shape place transitions and impact unique fluctuations in social isolation and connectedness in older adults.

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