A research project testing the impact of personalized computers upon the daily life of older adults with dementia has captured national recognition for Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay.

Called The Birdsong Initiative after the Suffolk couple that funded it, the study has received the 2016 Excellence in Research and Education Award from LeadingAge, a Washington, D.C.-based association representing 6,000 non-profit aging services organizations throughout the U.S.

The Birdsong Initiative, conducted in Westminster-Canterbury’s Hoy Nursing Care Center, is the first in what the Virginia Beach nonprofit community envisions as ongoing work with academia to look at new ways to make aging better for older adults and their families.

In announcing the award, LeadingAge said that Westminster-Canterbury has made “outstanding contributions to our field via the research,” adding that the study has “broad implications for the well-being of older adults.”

Westminster-Canterbury CEO Ben Unkle said, “Receiving national recognition for our first research study is a wonderful honor. Our goal is to raise the bar in both the quality and range of services our industry provides to older adults. We want to discover and promote the best practices to make life better, not just longer.”

The Birdsong Initiative was conducted among residents of the Hoy Nursing Care Center by Westminster-Canterbury in conjunction with Eastern Virginia Medical School and Virginia Wesleyan College. The Hoy Nursing Care Center is in Westminster-Canterbury’s healthcare wing.

The initiative was named in honor of Westminster-Canterbury Foundation board member Sue Birdsong and her husband George, who donated $228,000 to fund the project. It was conducted between June and December 2015, using touchscreen technology developed by Colorado-based It’s Never 2 Late.

LeadingAge will formally present Westminster-Canterbury with the 2016 Excellence in Research and Education Award at its national conference in Indianapolis, Ind., this fall.