Our Work

Many individuals suffer from injuries or illnesses that are largely preventable. Some have their lives turned upside down suddenly as in the case of an individual sustaining a concussion following a fall resulting from a slip in icy weather or a trip on an uneven sidewalk. Unpaid caregivers are often thrown into stressful new roles when their spouse comes home after surviving a stroke and must cope with a slew of new challenging tasks. For other individuals, inactivity resulting from poor accessibility of their environments that can spark a slow but steady downward spiral in health. Other examples of preventable conditions include pressure injuries for individuals with poor mobility, infections that are the result of poor hand hygiene and musculoskeletal disorders experienced by caregivers who often have to support heavy loads while adopting awkward postures.

These conditions result in pain and suffering – particularly for individuals with disabilities along with their caregivers as these individuals are likely to experience the greatest negative impacts.

The Engineering Health team is a research team that is a part of The Home, Community, and Institutional Environments Team at the KITE Research Institute. The goal of our team is to give older adults and their caregivers the tools they need to live independently in their own homes.

Our mission is to give individuals with disabilities and their caregivers the tools, knowledge, and motivation they need to live safely and independently.

Our Funders