SOLIDAGE and PRISMA Database Access Project

Infrastructure Joint Co-ordinators: François Béland and Réjean Hébert

SOLIDAGE and PRISMA are two of the major multi-institutional groups doing research on integrated care and services for the elderly in Quebec. Over the past six years, these two groups have acquired a considerable volume of longitudinal data, on some 2600 older persons. (For example, just one of their projects—the SOLIDAGE Research Program on Integrated Services for the Elderly, or SIPA—maintains some 30 databases all on its own.) These data can be invaluable for testing new hypotheses in aging research.

The purpose of the Quebec Network for Research on Aging’s SOLIDAGE and PRISMA Database Access Project is to develop a system that will make it easier for students and researchers to obtain and use these data. The tentative plan calls for a system that would let users apply for access to SOLIDAGE and PRISMA data files via the Internet and, once their applications were approved, download the files via the Internet as well.