Older Adults with Diabetes

Providing individualized solutions that help more people live longer, healthier lives with diabetes while avoiding complications.

What We Do

Recognize that older adults with diabetes have unique health care needs that are often overlooked in research programs, and collaborate with Diabetes Action Canada members to develop tailored solutions.
Develop a more nuanced understanding of the challenges facing this population and find healthcare solutions that work for them.
Co-design research projects with Patient Partners who have specific experience and expertise in supporting diverse populations, including ones that study how self-managed community diabetes programs compare with the current standard to care to see how healthy aging at home can be achieved.

Our Research

Intervention to promote health aging at home Self-Managed Community Diabetes Program vs. Usual Care The Aging, Community and Health Research Unit named newest research centre in the Ontario SPOR SUPORT Unit (OSSU) network Older Adults as Patient Partners

Get Involved

You will participate in discussions approximately once a month pertaining to research projects and strategic goals of the Network. You can also get involved in a research team! Researchers need your feedback to make sure research projects are relevant for people living with diabetes.

Become a Patient Partner

Our Team

Rebecca Leigh Ganann

PhD

Paula Rochon

MD, MPH, FRCPC

Tracy Chambers

RN, MScN

Melissa Northwood

RN, BScN, MSc Clinical Health Sciences (Nursing), PhD (McMaster)

New Paper Looks at Older Adults as Patient Partners

Congratulations to our Aging, Community and Population Health team for the publication of their recent paper: Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program. The paper was published in the March 17, 2021 issue of the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity. The research paper shares the five […]

New Resource: Collaborative for Health and Aging

The McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging is a new resource that supports patient-oriented research and which will help to improve the health system for older adults and caregivers. Diabetes Action Canada researcher, Dr. Maureen Markle-Reid, is the Scientific Lead for this program and Diabetes Action Canada’s Dr. Rebecca Ganann is the Collaborative’s acting lead. […]

Patient Partner Profile – Frank Tang

By Krista Lamb For Frank Tang, it was taking care of his elderly mother and helping her manage her type 2 diabetes that inspired him to get involved with research. She had lost a toe, developed diabetic retinopathy and was managing a wealth of complications. This meant Tang was often called on to assist with […]