The Vulnerable Individuals in Primary Care (VIP) Research Lab is thrilled to have established a new partnership with the Thrive Group Centre of Excellence. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been established, solidifying our commitment to jointly promoting healthy aging for vulnerable populations through research and training. Together, we seek to support the well-being of older adults through the delivery of integrated services to support and care for individuals to live as independently as possible.
“Partnering with the VIP Research Lab is providing us with a unique opportunity to work with academic experts in one of the main areas we have identified as a focus for our Centre of Excellence and to collectively deliver our commitment to addressing barriers to innovation and quality excellence in community support services.”
– Steve Sherrer, CEO, and Bahar Karimi, Chair, Centre of Excellence, Thrive Group
“This new collaboration with the Thrive Group Centre of Excellence will allow us to co-design a program of research from the outset, ensuring that the right questions are being asked and the study findings can have the greatest impact on the health and wellbeing of the clients receiving support and their caregivers.”
– Dr. Gina Agarwal, Director of the VIP Research Lab
Thrive Group (TG) is the umbrella organization overseeing four other non-profit, charitable corporations including AbleLiving Services, Capability Support Services, Idlewyld Manor and St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke and is establishing the Thrive Group Centre of Excellence in Healthcare Innovation (TG-CoE). TG is well-positioned to lead the way in promoting locally driven research and innovation in service excellence. Its missions, vision, and values align with the commitment to promoting workforce sustainability and improved quality of care and services for adults who need support, care, or services. With these two goals at the forefront, the TG-COE will support health system transformation by leading collaborations and addressing barriers to innovation and quality excellence through 6 pillars: funding development, partnership evolution, exploring promising practices, facilitating and conducting research, education and training, and quality improvement.
The VIP research lab is led by Dr. Gina Agarwal and is committed to producing robust evidence for novel primary care and community-based interventions that improve primary care access and linkage for vulnerable populations and that reduce inappropriate health care utilization. The VIP Research Lab partners collaboratively with patient groups, stakeholders, and primary care providers to develop programs specific to unmet health needs of vulnerable populations, and aims to integrate research into mainstream health practice and the broader health system.