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Becky White
Areas of interest
Seniors-serving community organizations; Age-friendly communities; Community-engaged research with older people
Biography
Becky is a PhD student and research assistant at the STAR Institute, working on AGE-WELL's Healthy Lifestyles & Wellness Challenge Area, an AGE-WELL Catalyst Ethics and AgeTech project, and a MITACS Accelerate Fellowship project between the STAR Institute and the 411 Seniors Centre Society. Becky holds an MSc in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health from the University of Bristol, UK and a BA in History from the University of Warwick, UK. Prior to joining the STAR Institute, she worked in project management roles in public and non-profit health and social care organizations in both the UK and USA. Becky's research focuses on the role of seniors centres in promoting the health and wellbeing of older people in Canada.
Projects
Working with the Aging Community: A Model for Building a Collective of Older Adult Researchers (COAR)
Co-led with Mei Fang (SFU Department of Gerontology and SFU Urban Studies Program). This collaborative project between the Science, Technology, and Research (STAR) Institute at SFU and 411 Seniors Centre Society aims to empower older adults as active contributors to research. By building on the existing partnership, the project supports 411 Seniors Centre's vision of becoming a community research hub. To do this, the Collective of Older Adult Researchers (COAR) was established. Through hands-on workshops, COAR members, alongside SFU graduate students, develop practical research skills through peer-to-peer intergenerational learning. Using a citizen science approach, participants undergo comprehensive training covering research stages from aim development to knowledge dissemination by undertaking a community-based project where COAR members and students collaborate to explore mobility barriers in local neighbourhoods.
This project-based learning initiative not only enhances understanding of issues affecting older adults but also fosters peer-to-peer learning and intergenerational working. Importantly, the impact extends beyond skills-building; it is about empowering older adults to actively shape research agendas and outcomes and enabling students to develop key skills on how to work with older adults, thereby promoting a more inclusive and equitable research landscape. By establishing COAR, we facilitate a shift from passive involvement to genuine partnership, ensuring that insights of older adults are central to the research process.
Partners: 411 Seniors Centre Society; School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland; The Urban Institute, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland
International Consortium on Ethics in Technology and Aging (ICE-TEA)
Becky is a team member of the International Consortium on Ethics in Technology and Aging (ICE-TEA), a project that addresses ethical challenges in AgeTech with the aim of co-creating a way forward with national and international communities. The project is funded from the AGE-WELL Catalyst Funding Program in Healthy Aging. For the project's achievements, workshops, report, and more, visit STAR Institute's special projects webpage.
Publications
Awards
Canadian Association on Gerontology’s 2024 Schlegel-UW RIA Scholarship