People of Perley - Namrata Bagaria
Given her unique career path and skill set, Namrata Bagaria seems likely to realize her goal of using digital technologies to improve the health and well-being of seniors living with frailty.
Bagaria trained and worked as a physician in her native India, only to discover that delivering frontline care was neither her calling nor good for her well-being. As a result, she gravitated toward public health and earned a Master's degree from Harvard University. Along the way, Bagaria came to recognize that healthcare systems worldwide suffer from a similar problem: they tend to adopt new technologies slowly, which hinders their efforts to improve. This inspired her to chart a new path: developing, validating and implementing effective technologies for seniors living with frailty. Bagaria co-founded Seniors Junction, a social enterprise that uses technology to combat social isolation, and began a PhD in digital transformation and innovation at the University of Ottawa.
Bagaria is a Research Assistant with the Perley Health Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care ™. Established in 2019, Perley Health Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care™ aims to set a new benchmark in seniors' care, facilitating applied research that fuels innovation in education, best practices, and knowledge translation. Working to achieve the goal of ensuring seniors and veterans living with frailty receive the highest level of care, Bargaria leads Re:Garde, a virtual reality (VR) program that strives to improve visual perception. The Perley Health Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care™, in collaboration with the Krembil Research Institute and the University of Toronto's University Health Network are conducting a study of Re:Garde. Study participants — including a group of Perley Health tenants, residents, volunteers and caregivers — complete a series of VR sessions over a six-week period. The project explores the potential of VR to improve self-reported vision, confidence in mobility and feelings of independence. This research is part of a larger effort to determine the potential of VR to improve the health and well-being of seniors, particularly those living with frailty. The Re:Garde study is partially funded by AGE-WELL, a Canadian network of researchers, tech companies, non-profit organizations, seniors and caregivers.
“Perley Health is an exceptional place,” Bagaria says. “Here, they do much more than talk about technological innovation — they actually engage in it. I've lived and worked in four countries, and I've never seen a centre like this. They are a great research partner.” For Bagaria, the work is — at least in part — personal. More than a decade ago, she befriended an elderly woman who later passed away. And during the pandemic, her father passed away in a hospital's intensive care unit. Their experiences helped her recognize that she had the skills and knowledge needed to improve the health and well-being of seniors through digital technologies. “I envision a time when treatments based on digital technologies will be prescribed for particular conditions,” she says. “To realize this vision, however, we need to develop the appropriate evidence base. This is a labour of love for me.”
Share Your Story
Be part of the People of Perley features by contacting the communications team at info@perleyhealth.ca
And the difference is YOU!

"I love Perley Health. I think it's an oasis in Ottawa. It's one of the few places which just doesn't talk about technology but actually does what it can.” - Namrata Bagaria, Research Assistant, Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care™