The Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation and Direct Supply announce partnership

BERKELEY, CA, June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - The Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), led by Baycrest, and US-based senior living solutions distributor Direct Supply, announced a new partnership agreement to advance the testing and commercialization of innovative products that address the needs of older adults and people living with dementia in North America.

As the worldwide population of older adults rises—by 2050, the figure is expected to double to 2 billion—so does the number of people living with dementia. Through their collaboration, CABHI and Direct Supply will work to clear a path for promising and proven seniors' care products to enter the market quickly and efficiently. By doing so, families and healthcare organizations will have easier access to products that can improve the health and quality of life for older adults and people with dementia.

Among its goals, the new partnership aims to:

• Establish distribution opportunities for proven innovations in the CABHI pipeline by adding them to the Direct Supply product catalogue
• Provide early-stage support for Direct Supply projects by leveraging CABHI expertise in the validation space
• Establish a joint approach that will bring end-user input to design, test, and dissemination stages of innovation development and commercialization
• Increase trial sites for testing and validating innovations across North America

"CABHI is thrilled to partner with Direct Supply. Our collaboration is working to ensure that older adults and their caregivers in Canada and beyond will be able to access much-needed solutions that help fill a real public health need," says Dr. Allison Sekuler, Managing Director for CABHI, Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience, and Vice-President, Research at Baycrest.

"Innovation is critical to finding new and better ways to address the needs of aging adults and those who care and serve them. Innovating can be complex and sometimes messy. Our Innovation Team at Direct Supply is thrilled to be collaborating with the CABHI team to target a more structured approach to ideating, testing and validating new technologies and products that accelerate the best ideas to market faster," says Liz Jensen, Clinical Director, Innovation & Technology Center at Direct Supply, Inc.

About the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)
A solution accelerator for the aging and brain health sector, CABHI provides funding and support to innovators for the development, testing, and dissemination of new ideas and technologies that address unmet brain health and seniors' care needs. Established in 2015, it is the result of the largest investment in brain health and aging in Canadian history. CABHI is a unique collaboration of health care, science, industry, not-for-profit and government partners whose aim is to help improve quality of life for the world's aging population, allowing older adults to age safely in the setting of their choice while maintaining their cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. For more information on CABHI, please visit www.cabhi.com.

About Direct Supply
Direct Supply delivers world-class solutions to help Senior Living providers – and the seniors they serve – thrive. From creating amazing environments and improving care and outcomes to optimizing building operations and streamlining procurement, Direct Supply is dedicated to pushing Senior Living forward. In 2012, DS opened the Innovation and Technology Center (ITC) at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The ITC uses cutting-edge resources, creative thinking, expert partnerships and an exploratory environment in order to cultivate new solutions that improve senior health – now and into the future. Learn more at DirectSupply.com.