Toronto Declaration on Bridging Knowledge, Policy and Practice in Aging and Disability.

Published 23rd April 2012

On Friday, April 13, 2012 members of the U.S. Administration on Aging and the National Institution on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) will be addressed by Luis Salvador-Carulla, M.D., Ph.D., who will highlight the importance of applying the Bridging principle to work on aging and disability.

Dr. Salvador-Carulla, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia, will also formally release the Toronto Declaration on Bridging Aging and Disability which synthesized the many papers presented at the Growing Older with a Disability Conference, held in Toronto, June 2011, part of six concurrent conferences at FICCDAT.

Co-authored by members of the planning committee for the Growing Older with a Disability Conference (GOWD) representing both aging and disability fields, various disciplines and a global geography, the Toronto Declaration sets out key principles and a short set of recommendations to change/enhance work in policy, research and practice.

The Declaration brings forward a vision to end segmentation by age in the two parallel fields, aging and disability. GOWD focused on the nexus of aging with a disability and aging into disability. Readers are urged to read this Toronto Declaration and circulate it widely.

Most importantly, readers are also asked to endorse the Toronto Declaration, and to advise of any opportunities taken to share its dissemination.