SFU STAR Institute received funding in 2024 from the SFU Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) to carry out a project titled Working with the Aging Community: A Model for Building a Collective of Older Adult Researchers (COAR).

Led by STAR Engagement and Education Director and SFU Assistant Professor Dr. Mei Lan Fang and community partner 411 Seniors Centre Society, this collaborative project aims to empower older adults as active contributors to research by establishing COAR. Through hands-on workshops between July to August 2024, COAR members, alongside SFU students, developed practical research skills through peer-to-peer intergenerational learning. Using a citizen science approach, participants underwent 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 the local neighbourhood.

By establishing COAR, the project aims to facilitate a shift from passive involvement to genuine partnership, ensuring that insights of older adults are central to the research process.

Outputs of the project include:

• Community Research Hub platform
  SFU STAR worked with 411 to develop a 411 Community Research Hub platform to share information about the COAR project, other past and current research projects 411 is involved in, 411 Seniors' approach to research, and a form for researchers and other stakeholders to fill in who are interested in collaborating with 411. Visit the platform HERE.
  
  
• COAR Handbook
  A resource on undertaking co-research with older adults - stay tuned!
  
  
• Training on how to use the COAR Handbook
  In-person and virtual training sessions at and with 411 Seniors - stay tuned!