Co-Creation of the Northern BC Older Adult Research Advisory Group-Older Adult Perspectives on Research Engagement in Rural and Underserved Communities

Background: Participation of older adults in research improves the quality, relevance, and impact of research. Yet, engagement with older adults and their caregivers in health research can be challenging, especially in rural and northern communities. As such, it is critical for researchers to leverage informal networks and connections to build trust and sustain meaningful research relationships with older adults.

In Canada, multiple successful efforts to promote older adult research engagement have been shared. While these have demonstrated significant value, none have focused on rural and northern settings, which are largely underserved and home to populations with the most limited access to healthcare and poorest health outcomes. This presentation will identify older adults’ perspectives of engagement in integrated health research and will highlight best practices for research co-production.

 

Methods: To address this gap, we conducted workshops with over 100 older adults living in small rural communities across northern British Columbia. This sparsely populated area is home to over 300,000 people, distributed across a region the size of France. With the aim of authentically connecting to older adults, community groups and service providers, we held workshops that encouraged discussion around research related to technology that supports aging, or AgeTech. During the workshop, participants engaged in focused discussions and completed brief surveys to identify the specific barriers older adults in rural and northern areas face and to identify opportunities to address them. Data were analyzed descriptively and thematically.

 

Results: In total, more than 100 older adults from seven rural communities participated in workshops. Participants identified a series of complex contextually specific aspects of living in northern and rural communities that impacted their ability to engage meaningfully in healthcare and research initiatives.

These included understanding the appropriate communication channels in rural and northern communities, consideration and value of participant experiences and time allocation to research, addressing isolation and digital literacy gaps, and ensuring continued engagement and relationship building with community. In response to this, we co-created the Northern BC Older Adult Research Advisory Group (NOR-AG) to encourage involvement in health research, particularly in research related to AgeTech, in northern and rural communities.

 

Discussion: Our presentation highlights the needs and priorities of rural and northern-dwelling older adults engaging in age-tech research. As a vital component of integrated care, fostering effective technology integration within healthcare has potential to improve health system and patient outcomes. Without efforts to support meaningful engagement of older adults, the potential impact of this work is limited and may fail to reach its fullest potential.

 

 This presentation will be of interest to healthcare providers, policy-makers, and researcher engaged in healthcare for older adults, identifying practical strategies to foster authentic research co-production with rural, northern, and underserved communities.