envisAGE BEACHHEADS
Evaluation. Validation.
envisAGE Beachheads
Beachheads are centers that bring expertise in technology integration evaluation, helping to ensure success in today’s fast-growing AgeTech market. Each Beachhead™ brings together experts dedicated to aging, and/or clinicians wishing to collaborate with entrepreneurs and communities to transform the lives of older adults. These centers of expertise may be located within an academic institution, a research institute, a public organization, or a health care establishment. As centres of expertise in measuring benefits and impacts, Beachheads support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be competitive in the growing AgeTech market by facilitating evidence gathering, real-world technology evaluation and integration, and knowledge transfer for the commercialization of innovative solutions.
The Beachheads work closely with SMEs and Community Labs (organizations that work with older adults and caregivers) to integrate technology solutions. They support collaborative projects with their dedicated resources and expertise, validate the scope of the chosen technology, document the challenges, facilitate implementation in a real-world environment, and rigorously measure the impacts to encourage market acquisition of the solution.
Meet our Beachheads:
Acute Care Alberta (ACA) is the provincial health agency that oversees the governance and coordination of acute care services across Alberta. By bringing together specialized care providers, Acute Care Alberta will speed up access to high-quality care, reduce wait times and make sure every patient’s journey through the acute care system is efficient and effective across the province.
The ACA Innovation and Business Intelligence team works closely with our Albertan Community Labs and Assisted Living Alberta (ALA) partners to address specific health care needs and concerns of Albertans. Innovation management facilitates the assessment and adoption of high-value innovations that enhance the quality of health care, patient, and provider experience in Alberta. As an envisAGE BeachheadTM, ACA’s team of experts will assess novel technologies with the potential to address the health requirements of older adults in the future.
“As a Beachhead, Acute Care Alberta supports the adoption of leading technology solutions and care models that help meet the evolving needs of older Albertans and those who care for them. With experience leading a previous MEDTEQ+ Beachhead and applying our proven processes—from problem validation to evaluation—we are well positioned for this role. We’re excited to contribute to an initiative that will enhance quality aging for older adults.”
Marc Leduc- Senior Director, Acute Care Alberta
Bruyère joins the envisAGE ecosystem as a Beachhead™, bringing their expertise as Eastern Ontario’s leading health organization specializing in aging, rehabilitation, and care for those with multiple complex medical conditions. Bruyère recognizes that supporting Community Labs and SMEs who are leading innovation has huge potential to solve some of the greatest health care challenges. As an academic health science centre, Bruyère brings together compassionate, person-centred care with world-class research, and trains the next generation of health professionals to create a better health system for all.
Technologies researched, developed, and tested through Bruyère’s innovation program are benefitting care teams and improving the quality of life of older Canadians and caregivers.
Examples include:
- SHOEBOX— a simple hearing test technology that identifies if someone can hear medical advice.
- The ALTA Platform—a robotic bed that improves patient transfers and reduces injuries for care teams.
“Over the last five years, Bruyère has built a successful health innovation program that is enhancing quality of life for those we care for in our diverse care settings and beyond our four walls. We excel at bringing SMEs with innovative health technologies into clinical settings, with clinical expertise, to evaluate these products. As a Beachhead with envisAGE, we’re poised to take this life-improving work even further in one of our areas of specialization, aging.”
Guy Chartrand, President and CEO, Bruyère
OROT is a health incubator connected to the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. Its mission is to reinvent health care and transform the user experience through an integrated model of patient-centered research, innovation and implementation informed by large-scale scientific data.
OROT is one of the main pillars of CIUSSS’s Your Care Everywhere philosophy, a bold approach that embraces the transformative vision of the future of health care delivery. As part of CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, a network with extensive home support and facilities for seniors, OROT brings expertise in value-based care and the science of digital technology evaluation and implementation to the envisAGE ecosystem.
“We are thrilled to be able to participate within the envisAGE initiative in the development and integration of tools designed to improve the daily lives and well-being of older adults by focusing on technologies tailored to their needs. OROT aims to bring together key players and facilitate their collaboration with the companies creating these innovative technological solutions.”
Danina Kapetanovic, Chief Innovator, CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, and Director, OROT
The Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal provides care and services to nearly 450,000 Montreal residents. It also provides specialized services, mainly in trauma, respiratory health, cardiovascular health and mental health, to 1.8 million Quebec citizens in various regions. The CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal includes 5 hospitals, 6 local community service centres (CLSC) and 11 long-term care homes. Affiliated with the Université de Montréal, it is a major partner in the training of physicians and health care professionals. Research activities focus on three main areas:
- biomedical research;
- social research;
- child and adolescent mental health research.
Since its inception in 2022, the NIM Intelliance Innovation Centre has developed solid expertise in the design and implementation of innovation projects and in evaluating the clinical, administrative and medical-economic impact of technological innovations in health care.
The team has developed tools and models that facilitate and structure the evaluation of impact measures for technological innovations, ensuring a thorough analysis for all stakeholders. By accelerating the adoption of high-impact innovations, the Innovation Centre contributes to improving the quality of life of users and their caregivers, as well as the quality of services provided.
“The participation of our NIM Intelliance Innovation Centre in the envisAGE program as a Beachhead demonstrates our commitment to transforming care and services for older adults. Our CIUSSS will facilitate the validation and evaluation of technologies with the potential to improve the quality of life of seniors by working closely with companies and settings eager to integrate these innovations.”
Adélaïde De Melo, President and CEO, CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
The history of the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM) is closely linked to the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM) and, more recently, to the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (CCSMTL).
Since its creation in 1982, CRIUGM has been committed to advancing knowledge in the field of health and aging, and developing innovative solutions that promote the health and well-being of older adults.
One of CRIUGM’s strengths is the collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach of its research teams, who study fields such as medicine, psychology, nursing, neuroscience, pharmacology, kinesiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, audiology and speech therapy, as well as biomedical engineering, mathematics, data science and artificial intelligence.
The expertise of CRIUGM researchers covers most health issues related to aging and is supported by conceptual evaluation frameworks to enable rigorous deployment and evaluation of technologies in real-life settings. At CIUSSS du Centre-sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal, CRIUGM researchers are supported by an Office of Research Project Evaluation, which guides research ethics, and an Office of Commercialization, which encourages partnership research and promotes the transfer of innovations to receptor communities.
As a BeachheadTM, the CRIUGM plays a leading role in evaluating the integration of technologies and contributes to creating a key link between one or more research laboratories, a private company and a community environment, to carry out collaborative projects.
“CRIUGM is very proud to contribute its expertise to the envisAGE initiative, which aims to accelerate the development, validation and adoption of innovative solutions in the field of technology and aging. Knowledge transfer and mobilization are at the heart of our activities, and the networking opportunities offered by envisAGE between academic research and various partners provide essential leverage to increase our impact in society.”
Oury Monchi, Scientific Director of CRIUGM, Full Professor in the Department of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Université de Montréal, Director of the Canadian Open Parkinson Network (COPN)
The Centre de recherche en gestion des services de santé was created as the result of an academic partnership between Université Laval and the four healthcare establishments in the Quebec region. The centre aims to fill the gap in innovative research on Quebec’s healthcare challenges and those of the university hospital centres. The CRGSS brings together a team of academic researchers from eight faculties at Université Laval involved in various projects.
Each project mobilizes university researchers, healthcare professionals, decision-makers and patient partners, with the aim of improving the quality, safety and accessibility of care and services. By combining their expertise and skills, researchers tackle the decision-making challenges facing healthcare managers.
“The CRGSS team is excited to join the envisAGE ecosystem to contribute to the evaluation and integration of innovative technologies that will improve the quality of life of older adults and caregivers. By mobilizing our expertise in implementation science and innovation assessment, we hope to promote the adoption of technological solutions tailored to the needs of older adults and caregivers. This collaboration is part of our commitment to transforming healthcare practices and supporting an innovative, evidence-based approach.”
André Côté, Ph.D., Full Professor in the Département of Management at the Faculty of Business Administration, Université Laval Director of the Centre de recherche en gestion des services de santé, FSA ULaval (CRGSS)
The KITE Research Institute at the University Health Network is a leading rehabilitation health-research facility dedicated to improving the lives of people in our communities who are living with the effects of disability, illness and aging. KITE’s areas of focus include injury prevention, restoration of function, independent living and community integration.
KITE provides validation and testing of assistive devices, mobility products and technologies for health, rehabilitation and aging. This includes neuroprosthetics, rehabilitation robotics, artificial intelligence for robotics, human-centred design and smart garments for health care.
“The KITE Research Institute is thrilled to join envisAGE and contribute to this important initiative. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to drive innovation, support SMEs, and accelerate commercialization. The intended goal of our participation in envisAGE is to help improve the quality of life of older adults and their caregivers.”
Dr. Milos R. Popovic, Director, KITE Research Institute, University Health Network
The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) works to optimize the health and longevity of Canada’s aging population through leading-edge interdisciplinary research, education, stakeholder collaboration and knowledge mobilization.
Much of MIRA’s support to research flows through two focused research centres—the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging (LCMA), which examines the biological, behavioural, technological and environmental factors that can affect individual and community mobility in older adults, and the MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre, which conducts and promotes community-driven research that optimizes the physical and social wellbeing of equity-deserving older adults.
“MIRA is pleased to join envisAGE as a Beachhead™, as it will provide further opportunities for our researchers to connect with small and medium-sized enterprises and Community Labs, and conduct stakeholder engaged research that is a core part of our vision for improving the lives of older adults. We are excited to see what we can do together to enable older adults to live longer, healthier and more independent lives.”
Dr. Parminder Raina, Scientific Director, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA)
As a Beachhead™, NL Health Services will support the evaluation and integration of technologies developed by small and medium-sized Canadian enterprises (SMEs) by measuring their effectiveness in real-world settings within their network. Rooted in the resilience, ingenuity, and community spirit that define Newfoundland and Labrador, NL Health Services stands as a uniquely authentic place for health innovation where local culture, creativity, and collaboration come together to shape solutions that truly reflect the people they serve.
“We are pleased to join the envisAGE initiative as a new Beachhead™. This collaboration gives us a meaningful opportunity to help evaluate and bring new technologies into our long-term care homes, while also supporting innovative businesses here in Newfoundland and Labrador and across Canada. At the heart of our work is a deep commitment to improving the lives of older adults and their families, and we are excited for what we can achieve together,” said
Ron Johnson, vice president of Digital Health, Innovation and Research, Chief Information Officer for NL Health Services.
The Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) joins the envisAGE ecosystem as a Beachhead™, bringing their expertise as a provincially funded, not-for-profit organization that accelerates discovery and innovation. OBI uses a “team science” approach to promote brain research, commercialization, and care by connecting researchers, clinicians, industry, patients, and their advocates to improve the lives of those living with brain disorders.
In their role as an envisAGE Beachhead™, OBI will help co-design projects with community partners and companies to get evidence-based neurotechnology into the hands of older Canadians and their caregivers. This process includes assisting with the evaluation of how these technologies can empower older adults to age safely, independently, and with dignity.
“The Ontario Brain Institute is pleased to be included as an envisAGE Beachhead in this national initiative. Continuing to play a role as a catalyst and facilitator in the neuroscience space, our partnership with envisAGE will support the development and deployment of neurotechnology that meets the brain health needs of Canada’s older adults, caregivers, and service providers.”
Dr. Tom Mikkelsen, President and Scientific Director, Ontario Brain Institute
Three reasons to join envisAGE as a BeachheadT™:
- Get privileged access to innovative solutions and expedite their adoption;
- Strengthen your reputation and capacity for innovation;
- Access an innovation validation network.
