Thanks for the question. There's lots to think about.
To answer your first question, about how we are funded, the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging, although we're a national centre, receives no core funding from any federal, provincial, or local government, nor do we receive, even though we are a research centre within the University of Western Ontario, any funding directly from the University of Western Ontario. So all of our funding is based on a variety of different research grants from a basic and applied perspective, and we generate revenue from a variety of different programs and services that we then deliver to train others to become leaders for older adults.
That's not to say, though, that a centre like ours should not be funded because we are a national centre, and the viability of a centre like ours rests on pins and needles from year to year, and our mandate is directed by the funds we receive. So some of the questions that were asked earlier were broader. If the research was extended beyond southwestern Ontario in different communities, it would be great to extend some of the research beyond certain communities, but we can only do what we're funded to do.
So that's to answer your funding question.
The second question was what is the role that the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging might play. First of all, I think it's also important to note that the staff who run the veterans integrated services and the VIP program need to be aware of organizations such as ours that are doing extensive research in this area so that they can direct veterans to a variety of programs and services that they might not even be aware exist, and that these programs are evidence-based. A centre like ours can certainly help to get the message out to older people, because older people are the best people to get the message out to older people. So via those networks and the various communities we worked with nationally, ensuring that older people are getting the message out to other older people I think is really essential in not only hearing the message but doing something about it.
Someone said to me, when they met me, “It's a young Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging”, meaning I don't really look like I'm 65. But at the same time, the message is sometimes that if I was older and maybe sharing the message, the uptake of the message would be better received. So I think getting that message out through national publications for clinicians, practitioners, physicians, and then also ensuring that the information is translated at a level that older adults can share it with other older people is essential.