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Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland Ageing Research Grants Programme Terms of Reference for Call 1 CARDI CARDI is a not for profit organisation developed by leaders from the ageing field across Ireland (North and South) including age focused researchers, academics, statutory, voluntary and community sector representatives with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies. It is overseen by a Steering Group and hosted by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland. Mission “To advocate for and advance the ageing research agenda by identifying, coordinating, stimulating, and communicating strategic research on ageing and older people as a means to improve the lives of older people in Ireland (North and South) especially those who are disadvantaged.” Purpose CARDI has been established to provide a mechanism for greater collaboration among age researchers, for wider dissemination of ageing research information and to advance a research agenda relevant to the needs of older people in Ireland (North and South). Operating at a strategic level and in an advisory capacity, CARDI will focus on promoting research co-operation across sectors and disciplines and will concentrate on influencing the strategic direction of research into older people and ageing in Ireland. It has been strategically positioned around the following four areas: Identifying and establishing ageing research priorities relevant to policy and practice in Ireland (North and South); 1 Promoting greater collaboration and co-operation on ageing research in order to build an ageing research community in Ireland (North and South); Stimulating research in priority areas that can inform policy and practice relating to ageing and older people in Ireland (North and South); Communicating strategic research issues on ageing to raise the profile of ageing research in Ireland (North and South) and its role in informing policy and practice. Context Ireland’s population is ageing. One million people aged 60 and above now live on the island of Ireland. By 2031, it is expected that Northern Ireland’s percentage of older people will increase to 28% and the Republic of Ireland’s to 23%. The largest increase will be in the older old; the number aged 80+ is expected to triple by the same date. But while life expectancy has increased, it is not clear that life without disability and ill health has increased to the same extent. A growing number of older people may be facing the combined effects of a decline in physical and mental function, isolation and poverty. Policy makers, service providers and older people alike recognise the need to create a high quality of life for our ageing population. This challenge can be met by solving the problems relating to healthy ageing, reducing inequalities in later life and creating services that are shaped by and appropriate for older people. An ageing population provides an opportunity for research in a wide variety of areas relating to older people, not just in health and social care but engineering, technology, housing, transport, economics, planning, sociology and psychology, among others. To be most effective greater cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary collaboration and co-operation will be required across the island of Ireland. 2 CARDI Grants Programme Aim To advance the ageing research agenda in Ireland, North and South. Objectives To support and enable cross-border and inter-disciplinary research collaboration on ageing and older people; To stimulate research activity on the needs of older people within a policy and practice context in Ireland; To increase the capacity of the ageing research community in Ireland. Priority themes We welcome research proposals under the themes: I. Health Healthy ageing is affected by a wide range of factors and it is important to understand the connections between these e.g. physical and cognitive capability, psychological and social aspects and biological aspects. Improvements in physical, social, economic and mental well-being can reduce demands on health and social services in the future and make better use of our decreasing working age population and associated finite resources. Understanding healthy ageing is vital because the contribution that older people will make to society both economically and socially will be of increasing importance. II. Inequalities Significant inequalities pervade the island of Ireland. Tacking the varied inequalities which affect people in later life requires greater attention, not just in terms of maintaining employment into older age or income adequacy in retirement, but also of considering the various social, psychological, health and environmental conditions that lead to and reinforce inequalities among older 3 people. Policies that tackle inequalities are increasingly being formulated and implemented on a cross-departmental basis and require inter-disciplinary research evidence. III. Policies and services There is a growing recognition that research is required to inform the development of policy, services and decisions that affect our ageing population, whether living at home or in care settings. Services should promote their inclusion in society, ensuring they feel valued as planners and consumers, not just as recipients of services. Critical examination is needed in areas such as health, care, housing, transport, culture and recreation to ensure society delivers services to and for older people in a way that meets their needs. These themes, which emerged from research and consultation by CARDI, reflect the main priorities expressed by older people and their organisations, by researchers and policy-makers. An over-arching principle of all three themes is that the voice of older people must be heard in research. Another is that the aim of research is to improve the quality of life of older people through improved health and services (themes I and III), especially vulnerable, disadvantaged or excluded older people (theme II). The themes can be seen as independent or over-lapping. In the consultations, for example, models of care arose as a health issue but consultees also referred to inequalities in care provision and access to good care services. Empowerment, the desire for independent living, mental health, ageism and poverty are other examples of subjects that span all three areas. The themes can best be viewed through the lens of several disciplines; different strands of research on ageing and older people must be brought together by researchers from different subjects. Likewise research will benefit from crosssectoral working through partnerships involving the public, private and not-for-profit organisations. (See ‘Approach’ below.) 4 Principles CARDI is guided by several principles: An Ireland (North and South) focus; The importance of research to address key issues facing older people, particularly those most disadvantaged, and an ageing population with relevance to policy-makers and practitioners; Support for inter-disciplinary and cross-sectoral strategic research on ageing and older people; A commitment to working in partnership to meet the strategic research needs of older people and an ageing population; Encouragement to share learning, ask questions and listen to develop Ireland’s ageing research agenda; A commitment to communicate results in a clear and accessible manner; Ensuring the voice of older people is recognised as an integral part of advancing the ageing research agenda in Ireland; Promotion of the dignity, value and contribution of older people and an ageing population. Approach Proposals may take many forms including: Empirical, feasibility and speculative studies; Small scale research; Translational research; Analysis of existing data sets; Development of inter-disciplinary and/or cross-border research networks. In Call 1 we particularly welcome the development of inter-disciplinary and crossborder research networks. 5 Ageing is quite a new research subject in Ireland (North and South) and, apart from branches of science and medicine, is still in its infancy. It is increasingly being recognised that ageing is a complex process with no single discipline answering all the questions that arise. Using the three themes above, CARDI will support the development of cross-border inter-disciplinary research networks with a policy and practice focus. These networks can link existing areas of research and develop new ones in order to find complementary research proposals and interest areas that can take advantage of any forthcoming funding opportunities. Resources Call 1 awards will typically be for up to €15,000 for projects with a maximum of 12 months duration but exceptionally may be up to €50,000 for a project lasting a maximum of 15 months. We expect to spend approximately €200,000 in Call 1, made up of about 15 awards of up to €15,000 and one of up to €50,000. CARDI money comes from charitable sources and will not incur any University overheads. Additional support It is possible that some applicants will have access to additional contributions to their work from their own institutions or from other sources. Proposals with this type of support are welcome and are encouraged as a means of achieving added value. Submission Proposals should be made on the application form which can be downloaded from www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme 6 Eligibility Proposals may be submitted by individuals or groups from academic, private, nonprofit and voluntary and community sectors. An applicant is allowed to submit only one proposal to Call 1 as a Principal Investigator (PI), but someone who is a PI on one proposal may be named as a Coinvestigator (CI) on other proposals. CARDI cannot accept simple re-submissions of previously submitted proposals. CARDI does not fund students for PhD study. Publication and support Award holders will benefit from assistance in publishing and disseminating their work. CARDI will organise the editing and publication of a series of executive summaries of projects it supports and findings will be reported on the CARDI website. CARDI will encourage the dissemination of results in peer-reviewed publications. We will also provide help to understand and translate research into the policy and practice context. Criteria Proposals should involve cross-border and inter-disciplinary collaboration. They will be assessed against the following criteria: Quality of the application; Relevance to one or more of the priority themes; Relevance to policy and/or practice affecting older people; Feasibility of the study within timescale and budget; Opportunities arising out of the research e.g. to attract additional funding or develop into a larger study; Involvement/engagement of older people; A cross-sectoral approach (public, private and not-for-profit); Building research capacity by involving new researchers. 7 In the event that the budget for proposals which are both cross-border and interdisciplinary is not fully allocated, CARDI will give preference to applications which are either cross border or inter-disciplinary; it may then consider any other proposals using the criteria listed above. Deliverables The successful applicants will be required to deliver the following: Presentation of research at a CARDI event e.g. seminar/conference; Submission of a research report (uploaded to CARDI website); Brief document written for non-researchers on implications; Submission to relevant journals/magazines, including peer-reviewed or scientific journals or CARDI publication In the case of grants for research networks, appropriate deliverables will be agreed between CARDI and the applicant. Awards - the review process The CARDI staff team will initially examine applications for eligibility and pass eligible proposals to the Grants Panel, which will request peer review at its discretion. The Grants Panel will have final jurisdiction over decisions. Unsuccessful applicants will not be given feedback. Ethics approval Appropriate ethical approval must be received for research involving human subjects from the University or other institution that people are applying from. In all cases, whether or not ethics approval has been given, CARDI will need to be assured that both proposals and research projects as they progress meet high ethical principles. See ethics guidelines on www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme. 8 For a full list of questions and answers from our grants programme briefing sessions in January and February 2009 and received by email and telephone go to: http://www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme 9