The social determinants of health and active aging for seniors

A Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) operating grant, in the framework of the population health intervention research program, was granted in March 2014 to a cross-sector coalition of Quebec researchers.

The research project, established in partnership and at the request of the Montérégie Public Health Department, focuses on four AFC communities (both urban and rural) in Montérégie, an area that could experience accelerated aging in the next two decades. The research aims at understanding how AFCCs act on the social determinants of the seniors’ health and, more specifically, on the reduction of health inequalities. Specifically, the objectives are as follows:

1. Describe the different community development factors involved in the AFCC process.

2. Understand how the conditions and scope of the AFCC program contribute to health promotion interventions for seniors in terms of lifestyles and living conditions.

3. Consolidate actions by developing collective intervention co-constructed tools aiming at evaluating the impact of the AFCC process on social determinants of health.

By providing details on the contexts and the mechanisms that shape the AFCC approaches, the project will contribute to better communicate the benefits on the quality of life of seniors, among other things, for adapting social and built environments, as well as on the role of various stakeholders involved in the AFCC approaches, whether they are practitioners, elected officials or managers of sectors involved. The project should end in the spring of 2017.