The University of Ottawa’s LIFE Research Institute (LRI) takes a critical look at life trajectories in all of its complexities. We want to explore in greater detail how we end up where we end up in later life. Our bodies are complex and require approaches that are truly interdisciplinary. However, these bodies function in complex worlds that further require an understanding of the multitude of factors that influence our trajectories and those trajectories are influenced by decisions we make and choices that are available to us. We have intentionally embraced this complexity and chosen to group interested academics, policy makers, practitioners, the business sector and members of civil society to solve the challenges we face along this trajectory.
Researchers at University of Ottawa collaborate with industry partners in many different ways including ideas, knowledge, processes, data and training.
Research
Projects
Nutrition
Understanding how our relationship with food, our access to it, and our (in) abilities to process it can change as a function of context and age.
Self care
Addressing the factors that influence human knowledge about ourselves, our subsequent behavioural choices, and the impact on our physical and mental health.
Communication
Sharing investigations on the ways in which information and feelings are shared and understood from the biological processes to ageist language, health communication or through mass communication as we age.
Housing
Understanding how our needs and choices in where we live, what we use as shelter, and how we develop these places into homes might change as we age.
Mobility
Understanding mobility in real lives as we age implies understanding where, how and why people move over short and long distances.
Interpersonal relationships
Sharing projects on how our intimate relationships as well as those with family members, friends, strangers or care providers may be influenced by our contexts as we age.
Community
Understanding our participation as citizens of local and global communities and how our rights and responsibilities can be maintained.
Learning and applying knowledge
Learning can take on several forms and our membership is interested in how that learning takes place across generations.
Employment
Understanding society’s perceptions and actions as related to the value attached to contributors in paid and unpaid occupations as we age.
Recreation
Sharing projects related to sports and games, arts and culture or socio-recreational activities as they contribute to well-being as we age.
Intersectional Projects
Grouping projects that may tackle issues that truly intersect one or several of the other domains listed.