My experience at the AGE-WELL EPIC Summer Institute and AAIC conference

My experience at the AGE-WELL EPIC Summer Institute and AAIC conference

I am a Fellow in the Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC) at the University of Edinburgh, investigating relationships between cognitive ageing and the mental and social health of older people. In July, I had the opportunity to take part in the AGE-WELL 8th Annual EPIC Summer Institute in Prince Edward Island, having been selected by the ACRC, which partners with AGE-WELL in Canada. Following the Summer Institute, I extended my stay to present at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto and to establish collaborations at McGill University and the University of Toronto.

AGE-WELL EPIC Summer Institute

The Summer Institute was an intensive, week-long programme that brought together graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, researchers, industry mentors, and community stakeholders to co-design AgeTech solutions to real-world challenges in ageing. This year’s theme was ‘Co-creating Possibilities: Supportive Homes and Communities’, with a focus on supporting older veterans in Canada and their caregivers. Throughout the week, we attended lectures and workshops, and applied this knowledge by working through the design process in multi-disciplinary teams - from defining our challenge area, to developing prototypes, a business model and implementation plans. 

My team’s challenge area centred on providing peace of mind for caregivers and supporting veteran safety at home. Working closely with our stakeholders, we identified several key challenges: the difficulty of coordinating multiple services and the need for trustworthy providers who understand veterans’ specific needs.

To address these challenges, drawing on our team’s expertise in engineering, epidemiology, and human-computer interaction, we developed Veteran Services Network, which comprised:

• A training module and accreditation to enable services to provide Veteran-Centred Care, co-designed with key stakeholders.
• A geo-located mobile app listing Veteran-Centred Care accredited businesses, with filters based on user needs and preferences.

The process was intense and rewarding - we progressed from the initial concept to developing prototypes and a business model, and refined our pitch with support from AGE-WELL and industry mentors. On the final day, teams pitched their solutions to an audience and a panel of judges. I am delighted to share that our team won the pitch competition, and will seek to continue developing our solution with AGE-WELL’s support.

AAIC and developing collaborations

Following the Summer Institute, I also travelled to Montreal to re-establish links with McGill University, where I studied for a year as an undergraduate exchange student. This visit built on those early links, enabling me to meet a new collaborator to discuss shared interests in mental health, life course stress, and cognition. Together, we submitted a pilot grant proposal to support cross-cohort research using UK and Canadian data. 

In Toronto, I met with colleagues at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to discuss shared research interests and possible collaborations. I also completed a tour of the Institute, which hosts 12 of the most advanced simulation labs in the world - including WinterLab, FallsLab, and DriverLab. It was fascinating to tour these spaces and learn about their use in innovative research in a range of areas, including mobility, falls prevention, and driving safety in later life.

My visit concluded at AAIC, the world’s largest dementia research conference, where I presented a poster from my Fellowship on psychological distress, cognitive decline, and dementia across five UK longitudinal studies. I attended talks and contributed to discussions on dementia prevention and early detection, mild behavioural impairment, and multidomain lifestyle interventions. The conference provided an opportunity to meet with international collaborators and develop new links, including with researchers from the University of New South Wales and the Deep Dementia Phenotyping Network’s Social Determinants of Health group.

Reflections

Through my research visit, I gained exposure to non-traditional approaches to implementation and business development, and strengthened my experience of co-design and interdisciplinary working, resulting in a solution which my team aims to take forward. At AAIC, I was able to disseminate my Fellowship findings to an international audience, and to learn about the latest cutting-edge research in dementia. Throughout my visit, I developed links with researchers from across multiple Canadian research institutes, including McGill and University of Toronto, resulting in new collaborations and submitted grant applications. I am grateful to the ACRC and AGE-WELL for their support, and I look forward to building on these links and integrating the approaches, insights, and innovations that I learned about during my visit into my work at the ACRC.