National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly

National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE) is an international network of researchers, practitioners and students dedicated to improving the care of older adults, both in Canada and abroad. Its members represent a wide field of discipline that includes geriatric medicine, gerontological nursing, gerontological social work, gerontology, rehabilitation science, sociology, psychology, policy and law. With their international arm, the International Collaboration for the Care of the Elderly (ICCE), they have research and student partners in nine countries: Australia, China, England, Germany, India, Israel, Scotland, South Africa and Switzerland.

What we do:

NICE was proposed within the context of aging at present. While research consistently shows that the best geriatric care is delivered in interdisciplinary teams, actual practice does not always occur in this way. Further, there is a gap between what evidence has shown to be best practice in the care of the elderly, and how practice is truly carried out. Moreover, Canada and other countries are experiencing an aging population, and, in many cases, a more diverse aging population. However, the education that health practitioners receive in the care of the elderly is largely inadequate, and we are facing a present and a looming shortage of professionals to care for our aging populations.

NICE was proposed to help address these issues. The overarching emphases of NICE are networking and knowledge transfer – that is, getting good research into practice. NICE has three main goals:

  1. Help close the gap between evidence-based research and actual practice
  2. Improve the training of existing practitioners, geriatric educational curricula, and interest new students in 
     specializing in geriatric care
  3. Effect positive policy changes for the care of older adults

NICE operates through a network of Theme Teams and Committees. Our Theme Teams review evidenced-based literature to develop user-friendly, interdisciplinary, team-based tools. They then work to disseminate these tools into practice, thus moving research into practice. Our Committees work to identify best practices, advocate for curricula changes, and support students in the field of aging. Our Theme Teams and Committees are made up of researchers, practitioners and students from varied disciplines, which helps foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

NICE offers a free membership to those interested. Benefits include:

   * Members of NICE have many opportunities to network with others in their own field, and indeed with members in other fields.  
   * Members are invited to attend NICE events at a discounted rate, including our annual conference, the Annual NICE Knowledge 
     Exchange.  
   * Our members also belong to an e-mail list which announces events of interest to our membership.  
   * Our student members are also given the opportunity to take part in the NICE Student Mentorship Program, where students are 
     matched with a mentor in a Theme Team or Committee, provide support to that team, and receive a stipend to attend our annual 
     conference. 

To become a NICE member, click here!