TREC - Translating Research in Elder Care

03/31/2026

Congratulations to TREC postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Tatiana Penconek who joined the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing as an Assistant Professor in January 2026!

03/31/2026

Our congratulations to TREC Investigator, Yinfei Duan

Dr. Yinfei Duan recently received a Project Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a project entitled Harnessing Advice Networks for Innovation Diffusion and System-Level Transformation in Long-Term Care (the Network Project).

In partnership with long-term care (LTC) leaders, policymakers, and other community partners, the Network Project aims to understand how LTC leaders use knowledge-sharing and advice networks to facilitate the spread of innovations and initiatives intended to improve quality of care and quality of life for both residents and staff across Alberta LTC homes.

Stay tuned for more on this exciting project.

03/25/2026

New TREC Research:

Animal-assisted support programs for residents in Canadian long-term care homes: a feasibility and acceptability study

Animal-assisted services, specifically animal-assisted support programs (AASPs, pet therapy, animal-assisted therapy, animal-assisted activities), are promising programs that may improve the mental health and overall well-being of older adults living with and without dementia in long-term care (LTC) homes.

Few studies have explored the perspectives of residents and LTC staff regarding AASPs for older adults. This study aimed to identify the initial perspectives of LTC staff regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and other factors influencing the implementation of a live AASP within Canadian LTC homes.

Our secondary aim was to supplement the perspectives of the LTC staff with interviews from LTC residents and community members.

What we found:
AASPs have many potential benefits for residents and staff in LTC homes, including perceived improvements in mood and social engagement. Interview participants provided insights and recommendations for future AASPs, including understanding the challenges to implementing AASPs, such as the fear of animals.

The interview findings will inform the design of an AASP intervention and a pilot study to implement and evaluate the intervention in LTC.

Read more:

AASPs have many potential benefits for residents and staff in LTC homes, including perceived improvements in mood and social engagement. Interview participants provided insights and recommendations for future AASPs, including understanding the challenges to implementing AASPs, such as the fear of an...

03/25/2026

Project update:

Trauma‑Informed Care Resource Kit

We are actively developing the engagement process for the Trauma Informed Care Resource Kit, with a current focus on identifying ways of meaningfully involving frontline staff, managers, leadership teams, and families. In parallel, we are creating a robust evaluation plan to ensure the final Resource Kit is both practical and effective in supporting trauma informed approaches across care homes.

The Resource Kit is being developed across three phases with participating homes:

-Needs Assessment (Spring 2026): Identifying priorities and supports required to strengthen trauma informed environments.

-Testing & Refinement (Fall 2026): Trialing the draft Kit in care homes to identify strengths and needed adjustments.

-Evaluation Phase (Early 2027): Assessing usability, impact, and readiness for broader implementation.

We are encouraged by the strong interest on both of the projects from our sector partners. We look forward to sharing further progress as the work continues.

03/08/2026

Celebrating all the women in our lives today

03/06/2026

As Canada marks National Shingles Awareness Week, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) is releasing a new report warning that shingles remains a largely overlooked yet preventable health risk for older Canadians.  Shingles infections continue to cause unnecessary pain and long-term complications ...

03/05/2026

TREC welcomed new members to

The International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC)

Three new members joined TREC's International Scientific Advisory Committee:

-Hilde Verbeek, Professor of Long-Term Care Environments at Maastricht University

-Sharon Straus, Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto

-Annette Trimbee, PhD, President and Vice-Chancellor of MacEwan University

They join Colleen M. Flood (Dean, Faculty of Law, Queen's University), Howard Feldman (Professor of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego), Tom Noseworthy (Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary), Arlene Bierman (Former Chief Strategy Officer, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality), and newly-appointed chair of the ISAC committee, Sube Banerjee (Professor and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham).

03/04/2026

Hot off the presses:

Our latest TREC Research:

Trauma-Informed Care—The Staff Matter Too
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(25)00551-1/abstract

The recent call for conducting more research and clinical attention on older adults with a history of experiencing potentially traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is important. It adds usefully to an emerging awareness of trauma experienced by older people in long-term care (LTC) homes.

This call highlighted inadequate training and unfavorable working environment preventing implementation of trauma-informed care and observed that no study has examined this matter in LTC home settings.

Trauma-informed care in LTC homes is strongly advocated, as up to 90% of older adults have encountered at least 1 trauma event (eg, accidents, sexual assaults) over their lifetime.

Learn more:
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(25)00551-1/abstract

The recent call for conducting more research and clinical attention on older adults with a history of experiencing potentially traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is important.1 It adds usefully to an emerging awareness of trauma experienced by older people in long-term care (L...

03/04/2026

TREC's Trauma-Informed Care Project Updates:

Trauma Research for Adverse Care Aide Experiences (TRACE Survey)

The TRACE survey aims to better understand trauma related experiences among health care aides. To ensure the survey is clear, accessible, and respectful of HCAs’ time and perspectives, the TREC team conducted cognitive interviews in several care homes with diverse HCA participants.

Cognitive interviewing helps us explore how people interpret and respond to survey questions, helping identify areas that may be confusing, unclear, or overly burdensome. Insights from these interviews have informed several enhancements to strengthen the TRACE survey.

Full survey deployment will begin in early Fall 2026.

Stay tuned!

02/24/2026

Call for Abstracts! : Crossing Currents - Navigating Aging through Collaboration and Coordinated Action, October 15-17 in Charlottetown! Hosted by

Submit your abstracts: https://buff.ly/4Lqv7Oe

02/24/2026

Equitable dementia care starts with listening.

In her TEDx Talk, Ngozi Iroanyah, Director of Health Equity and Access at the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, shares her family’s 17-year journey with dementia — including the barriers they faced navigating a healthcare system that wasn’t designed with equity in mind.

Her story highlights how systemic inequities can shape families’ experiences with dementia care and why addressing them is essential. Equity in healthcare isn’t abstract. It’s deeply personal, and it starts with listening to lived experience.

Listen to the talk: bit.ly/40n7sJN

02/24/2026