Emma Conway was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the TrentAging 2019 conference. 

The ‘New Dementia’: Contextualizing Emerging Socio-Cultural and Ethical Questions in Dementia Research

I was thrilled to be provided with the opportunity to attend TrentAging2019: Take Back Aging – Power, Critique, and Imagination. This joint international conference of the North American and European Networks in Aging Studies was held at the Trent Centre for Aging and Society in beautiful Peterborough, Ontario. Researchers, writers, and scholars from various disciplines presented diverse approaches to critical aging studies – and I was challenged to think creatively about the meanings and representations of aging, consider different cultural perspectives, and think critically about power relationships.

One panel that I attended, the ‘New Dementia’: Contextualizing Emerging Socio-Cultural and Ethical Questions in Dementia Research, showcased the commitment of TrentAging2019 to embody the theme “Take Back Aging”. This panel encompassed presentations from very diverse perspectives – Annette Leibing from the Université de Montréal, Canada, Silke Schicktanz from University Medical Center Göttingen in Germany, and Karla Cristina Giacomin from the Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou in Brazil. The Discussant Renee Beard from the College of the Holy Cross in the United States engaged the audience in a critical discussion surrounding the presented North American, German, and Brazilian contexts of the experience of dementia. As a researcher interested in the perceptions of dementia, as well as the lived experiences of dementia, I was especially interested to hear how researchers are working in the field globally.

The session began with situating dementia research in the concept of the ‘New Dementia’. This idea of a ‘New Dementia’ emerges from medical advancements in early detection and intervention, biomarkers, and the inclusion of mild cognitive impairment diagnoses as a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. As Annette Leibing described, dementia has moved from being considered a disease of the brain to being considered a disease of the body, with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia now being involved in diagnosis. Leibing also described a shift towards prevention within the idea of ‘New Dementia’, where cardiovascular risk factors as well as the merging of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have contributed to the identification of nine modifiable risk factors. Thus, the so-called “problem of dementia” is recognized much earlier in the life course with early prevention, detection, and intervention.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the session was the various cultural contexts of prevention. There are striking differences in the media representations of dementia prevention, where European countries are more focused on individual lifestyle factors of prevention (the notion of the ‘healthy brain’), and North American countries more frequently present clinical trials and pharmaceutical intervention. Silke Schicktanz highlighted that this framing does indeed impact the ways in which dementia is experienced, especially in terms of the perceived importance of prevention. It was further emphasized that there are ethical considerations when disclosing test results that may indicate increased risks of developing dementia. In some cases it may lead to better prevention, advanced care planning, and healthcare, but it also tends to increase distress and stigmatize dementia. Thus, it is argued that the prevention paradigm of dementia is linked with a biomedical framework of prediction, which neglects social risks and wrongly ascribes responsibility. Schicktanz argues that researchers must consider family, social, and state responsibility especially in terms of access to prevention.

In considering a different cultural context, Karla Cristina Giacomin presented Dementia as a public health issue in Brazil. With a rapidly aging population, Giacomin identified that there is a strong bioethical concern with aging due to a perceived loss of autonomy and a responsibility of the health care system to provide preventative actions and adequate care in Brazil. Moreover, Giacomin argued that the traditional model of healthcare in this context wrongly reduces disability to a problem of the individual. The cultural fear of dementia is seen as leading to stigma and exclusion, which is amplified in the Brazilian media with headlines linking dementia to a “tsunami”, “epidemic”, and “burden”. Thus, Giacomin presented dementia as a paradigmatic challenge, which places cognitive paradigms against cultural determinism, biomedicine against personhood, and ‘hard’ science against ‘soft’ science.

This session was powerful, engaging, and challenged me to think deeply about the role of culture in the experience of dementia. As a student and researcher interested in the experience of dementia, as well as the study of dementia, I walked away from the session with new insights and a different perspective on a wide variety of cultural representations of dementia. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to attend TrentAging2019, and I would like to thank the Department of Health, Aging and Society and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging at McMaster University for supporting my attendance.

Margherita was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the Canadian Association on Gerontology 2019 conference – 'Navigating the Tides of Aging Together' - held in Moncton, NB (October 24-26, 2019).

Contemporary Considerations for Aging Together with Companion Animals: The Growing Interest in the Strength of the Human-Animal Bond

I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to attend CAG 2019, be amongst such like-minded individuals and experience some of the most amazing pieces of research that continue to shape our communities. The CAG 48^th Annual Scientific and Educational conference was held in Moncton New Brunswick, introducing not only a beautiful city but many wonderful hidden gems. Researchers, writers, and scholars from various disciplines presented diverse approaches to the research on aging. In attending this conference, I was both challenged and encouraged to think critically about the meanings and approaches to studying aging. Within the conference, several presentations uncovered the different perspectives on aging and expanded into diverse areas of interest.

At the CAG conference, an interesting topic brought about by the symposium for “Contemporary considerations for aging together with companion animals” would be the idea of the human-animal bond and aging individuals. This panel encompassed presentations from a variety of perspectives including research from both the health sciences and social sciences. As a scholar interested in the complex intersection between aging and animals, this panel was particularly interesting as it gave a global perspective to the different areas of research on this topic.

In this session, several topics were discussed on aging and animals. One area of research presented in this symposium that I found interesting was animals and natural disasters. As discussed in Cheryl Travers et al.’s presentation entitled “People and pets go together: The shared experience of older pet owners and frontline responders in natural disasters of the Blue mountains, New South Wales, Australia”, older pet owners and animals share a deep connection. In terms of this bond, Cheryl Travers notes that as the frequency of natural disasters increases, emergency services face challenges in adapting to include pets as a form of family member. Brought to the forefront during this presentation is the difficulty of evacuating older pet owners that are unable to bring their pets to safety using emergency services. Particularly during the 2013 Blue Mountain firestorms, it was found that older pet owners would place themselves at risk of injury or death to ensure that they could ‘be there’ for their pets. Moving forward, this presentation highlights the need to create a shift in the emergency services to include pets as family members and to enhance emergency services to enhance strategies for disasters preparedness.

Perhaps one of the most interesting portions of this session was the strength of the bond between older persons and animals. Throughout the presentations, there were countless ways in which aging persons found animals to provide meaning to their lives and hold importance. Just as the presentation on animals and natural disasters demonstrates pets as family members, many of the other presentations also touch on animals as imperative to aging, wellness and healthcare. As most of the presentations in this symposium suggested, the need to move forward on studying the human-animal bond and interactions is necessary. As the aging population continues to increase, the experiences of those aging with pets is a rising area of interest. Even in retirement homes, both living animals and robotic animals have become a major field of research that continues to move forward.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to attend CAG 2019, and I would like to thank the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging at McMaster University for supporting my attendance.

Kelsey Harvey received a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the TrentAging 2019 conference.

Taking Back Aging and Taking Back the Planet: Highlights from TrentAging2019 

Like many gerontologists, I was appalled last year when ACRONYM released a video encouraging younger people in the U.S. to vote in the mid-term elections. It was not the aim of the video that caused an up-roar (The American Society on Aging condemned the video and called for suspending the ageist campaign: https://www.asaging.org/blog/asa-responds-ageist-advertising), but the ways in which intergenerational conflict and overt ageism was leveraged in the Knock the Vote campaign (language warning: https://globalnews.ca/news/4526912/midterm-elections-knock-the-vote-video/). In this video, a woman says, “Climate change? That’s a you problem. I’ll be dead soon.”

Dr. Kathleen Woodward’s plenary address at the TrentAging2019 conference entitled “Aging and the Anthropocene: The View from Margaret Drabble’s The Dark Flood Rises” described an older character who did not care about climate change. Instead, the protagonist in The Dark Flood Rises obsesses over how she might die while her daughter fixates on climate change. It never occurs to the protagonist that she could perish due to the effects of climate change, despite being situated in a time and place wrought with natural disasters.

Both examples, ACRONYM’s Knock the Vote and Margaret Drabble’s The Dark Flood Rises depict older adults as self-centered and self-serving; caring only about political policies that serve their interests or preoccupied with their own mortality. However, there are many older adults who care deeply about climate change and there are many reasons why the aging populations have a vested interest in preserving planet Earth for future generations. As Dr. Woodward pointed out, our children and grandchildren will one day too be ‘old.’ However, Dr. Woodward argues that climate change could threaten longevity. In other words, our population’s life expectancy has increased dramatically, but future generations may not be as lucky to lives such long lives when people from across the globe die from natural disasters, food shortages, pollution, heat waves, and the other myriad of effects of global warming.

Not only is climate change a potential threat to longevity at a population level, it should also be a concern at the individual level. I can personally attest to my own anxieties of raising a child and wondering what his future and his aging experiences will be like if we face the disasters that are in store if climate change is not aggressively managed.

Admittedly, I never thought as a gerontologist that there was much connection to be made between aging and global warming. However, Dr. Woodward’s plenary address served as an eye-opening inspiration and call to action. Firstly, let’s first start by taking back aging by opposing the use of ageism and intergenerational conflict as campaign tools. Then, let’s study and promote the truth about older adults’ engagements in efforts to fight climate change. As gerontologists, it seems, there are more ways that we can contribute to the study of aging while also fighting climate change.

I would like to thank the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging and the Department of Health, Aging and Society at McMaster University for their financial support that made it possible for me to attend the TrentAging2019 conference held in Peterborough Ontario.

Stephanie was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the Canadian Association on Gerontology 2019 conference – 'Navigating the Tides of Aging Together' - held in Moncton, NB (October 24-26, 2019).

Reflections on CAG 2019: Navigating the tides of ageing together by Stephanie Hatzifilalithis

Moncton, New Brunswick was home to the 48^th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) conference. Held from 24^th-26^th of October 2019, with the theme ‘Navigating the tides of aging together’, the Université de Moncton hosted this year’s conference just a few steps away from riverfront park and the widely anticipated tidal bore.

The conference was preceded by fascinating workshops and student events surrounding topics such as: integrating LGBTQ+ experiences of aging into existing gerontology curricula, the development of new knowledge and information to support Age-Friendly Communities, and communication strategies in gerontological research to increase likelihood for action.

Throughout the conference, we heard from experts in the field of aging who themselves were located across a range of disciplines and professions such as health, social science, practice, and policy. The opening address was delivered by Dr. Martin Hyde from Swansea University, who highlighted the need to think globally to better understand the diversity in the ageing process. Dr. Hyde spoke to the importance of seeing older people as not passive objects removed from these spatial dynamics, but as active agents in a global context.

The next day Dr. Kimberly Wilson (University of Guelph) moderated a panel on how taking an intersectional lens on ageing can result in insights with regards to marginalized populations. Panelist Professor Emeritus Brian de Vries (San Francisco State University) spoke about discrimination and stigma of LGBT older people and the impact this has throughout the life course, and especially in the context of care. Dr. Jennifer Walker (Laurentian University) shared perspectives and experiences of ageing within First Nation communities and highlighted the need to acknowledge the role previous government policies have on the current state of indigenous health in Canada. Dr. James Worthington (National Medical Advisor to Correctional Service Canada) addressed the diverse experiences of ageing and the crucial importance of not forgetting incarcerated and criminalized older people in federal custody.  On the last day, Dr. Sébastien Lord (University of Montréal) spoke to the significance of the effects of place and the complexity of the relationship between people and their environments including the socio-spatial inequalities experienced by older people. Together, the keynote sessions brought a much-needed critical perspective to ageing and later life and drew attention to the vast heterogeneity of ageing experiences that are shaped across local and global contexts.

Over the three days of the conference, oral papers and posters focused on themes such as social isolation and exclusion in later life, teaching and learning in gerontology, technology and ageing, housing, dementia, experiences of caregiving, and decision making in long term care, among a range of topics.  With each presentation and session, new challenges and insights into contemporary gerontology emerged. Crucially, this year, delegates and participants were acutely aware of the importance of knowledge mobilization and delivering impactful solutions to the challenges facing older Canadians. Together, the keynotes and presentations shed light on the increasingly diverse environments older people currently negotiate and the need for innovative and dynamic responses to new challenges that older people will face. Overall, ageing landscapes and global dynamics were debated and discussed, with meaningful reflections on strategies to navigate the tides of ageing together.

The annual meeting of the CAG is also known for the promotion of intergenerational support across junior and senior gerontologists. Again, this year, CAG offered an inclusive space for students, faculty, community members and practitioners to present their work, debate, and discuss ideas.  This conference also provided me, a number of students, and other ageing scholars a look into the present understandings of gerontology. I look forward to working with the past, present, and future cohorts of gerontologists to engage and challenge ideas, assumptions, and practices of ageing and later life.

I would like to sincerely thank the Canadian Association of Gerontology for an exceptional conference and for the Margery Boyce Bursary. I would also like to thank The Wilson Foundation, The Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging, and the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging for their support in attending CAG 2019.

I look forward to the next meeting in Regina 2020!

Blessing was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the Canadian Association on Gerontology 2019 conference – 'Navigating the Tides of Aging Together' - held in Moncton, NB (October 24-26, 2019).

Leaving no one behind while “Navigating the Tides of Aging”

The Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) is a multi-disciplinary association in Canada comprised of researchers, academics, policymakers and health practitioners interested in the Canadian aging population and aging issues. CAG’s 48th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting was hosted by the University of Moncton.

The opening keynote lecture this year was given by Martin Hyde, which he titled, “Ageing in a Global Context: New Spatial Dynamics of Later Life”. Dr. Hyde emphasized the impact of globalisation and how it has changed the experience of aging and later life, specifically outlining how global and state formation affect older adults. This discourse is very timely, considering the plethora of evidence which proves that the number of older adults affected by globalization directly or indirectly is increasing by the day. It is either older adults are migrating, or their family members are migrating.In fact, as Dr. Hyde noted, older adults are not just affected indirectly by globalisation, rather, they are active agents in this global process. In follow up to this issue, several sessions within the conference focused on older immigrants and the challenges they face in Canada and across the globe, and important discussions were had about the way in which we might start addressing these issues. One of which includes, creating an inclusive policy and addressing social isolation among immigrant older adults in Canada.  

One thing that stood out about the conference, was the planning, organization and the rich content of research that was presented during different sessions of the conference. The sessions were very informative and covered an impressive range of issues, which undoubtedly highlights the importance of multidimensional research and practices in aging. For instance, one of the pre-conference sessions that I attended looked at “Supporting Age-Friendly Communities in Canada: What do we know and what do we need to know?”. It was a session that attempted to understand the things that are not working well, in regard to older adults and their built environment. It was interesting to see that policymakers are asking questions on what needs to be done to have a more friendly cities, with older adults at the heart of it. 

CAG 2019 also was a great opportunity for me to present my paper titled: “Television, radio, and telephone: Tools for reducing loneliness among older adults in Nigeria” and exchange ideas with other researchers on the issue of aging, loneliness and social isolation. It was also a great opportunity to meet with other students who were interested in aging research from within and outside Canada.

My sincere gratitude goes to Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging and the Department of Health, Aging and Society for supporting my work and my trip to Moncton to attend this year’s conference and I look forward to attending CAG 2020.

Alison Ross received a Gilbrea Travel Award to faciliate her attendance at the TrentAging 2019 conference.

Trent Conference reclaims aging from the margins

The mission of this year’s Trent Aging Conference was to reclaim aging from the powers that have largely pushed the experience to society’s margins. Doing so demanded cross-cultural and activist strategies to challenge assumptions, promote novel insights, and reflect critically and creatively upon age and all its representations and meanings. In its entirety, this multidisciplinary event offered an important opportunity to share innovative strategies in critical aging studies and gerontology.

Reflecting upon the various conference presentations, the value I found in Trent Aging 2019 was its blending of critical scholarly inquiry with creative pursuits in its application of an intersectional lens to aging studies. Two notable sessions were particularly compelling in their demonstration of this value: “Risk, racialization, gender, and sex: Embodying qualities of everyday lives in long term care” and “Aspects of LGBT aging in Canada, the UK, and the US”. Both sessions considered the intersection of diverse social identities with age, offering a more nuanced narrative of the lived experience that would not otherwise have been captured without intersectional research methodologies.

The lessons learned from these sessions are significant to researchers-in-training, such as myself. Considering age not as a singular category, but rather interdependent with, and mutually reinforced by, other intersecting marginalized identities is an integral component of interpretative qualitative methodologies. For instance, Prince Owusu of Carleton University emphasized the experiences of racialized bodies in long-term care settings, which are largely white spaces. Owusu explained that racialized bodies cannot and should not be conceptualized as one category, but rather a reflection of varied and diverse life experiences. Similarly, Jane Traies of the University of Sussex reminded of us that despite older lesbian women’s shared identity, the community is heterogeneous and “desperate” for representation and recognition.

These sessions were powerful reminders that, despite methodological challenges, qualitative work should allow the participant the necessary space to make sense of their different categories of identity in the construction of their life story. For those of us engaged in qualitative research, Trent Aging reminded us of the social nature of qualitative research and therefore legitimized calls for emphasis on social location. By this measure, Trent Aging was effective in helping participants “take back aging” from the margins.

I am very grateful to McMaster’s Department of Health, Aging, & Society and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging for their support of my research and travels to Trent Aging 2019.

Blessing Ugochi Ojembe received a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the TrentAging 2019 conference.

MY MOMENTS AT TRENTAGING 2019

TrentAging 2019 was jointly organized by the North American and European Networks in Aging studies and hosted by the Trent Centre for Aging and Society, Trent University Peterborough, ON Canada. I was privileged to present my poster on “Describing reasons for Loneliness among older people in Nigeria” and to exchange ideas with other researchers on the issue of aging and loneliness.  The conference included rich content focused on critical aging and plenary speakers which included scholars such as: Stephen Katz, Martha Holstein, Kathleen Woodward and Josephine Dolan. The sessions were led by well-known scholars in the field of critical gerontology including: Chris Gilleard, Paul Higgs, Amanda Grenier, Margaret Gullette, Chris Philipson, Wendy Martins, Julia Twigg and Carrol Estes, to mention a few. The desire to learn from these scholars and to better understand the current tensions and discourses around critical gerontology was what captured my interest to attend the conference. It was a great opportunity for me to meet and network with other students who are also engaged in aging research from across the globe – The US, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, Germany, and Canada for example.

One of the sessions I attended was the session led by Dr. Andrew King, from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom titled “No (safe) Place Like Home? Reaction and Resistance in the Homespaces of Older LGBTQ+ People in the UK”. His talk posited that housing provision for older adults, especially LGBTQ+, requires an outlook that considers diversities. It is important to note that the consideration for diversity and inclusion across all service provision for all groups of older adults is a factor that cannot be underemphasized because older adults are heterogeneous.

Another theme that came up during one of the sessions led by Professor Amanda Grenier was “Precarity”. It was interesting to watch the discourse and tensions around this concept. Some of the concepts that were associated with the concept of precarity include disadvantage, inequalities, deprivation, and life course or cumulative disadvantage. Nevertheless, while we admit the similarity of these words, one significant point from the session was the fact that precarity in later life is exacerbated by cumulative disadvantage (housing, employment, health, community, security, etc.).

Another tension that came up during one of the panel sessions on “The Status of Ageism” was the discourse on the use of ageism as an ideology versus the use of the social imaginary of the fourth age as suggested by Paul Higgs and Chris Gilleard. Gilleard and Higgs presented on “The overextended conceptual Tool: Ageism as Ideology”, they criticized the use and misinterpretation of ageism as an ideology and thus, suggested replacing it with social imaginary of the fourth age which they believed presents a better prospect for aging research and methodology purposes. On the contrary, Margaret Gullette presenting on “The Belatedness of Ageism in Contemporary Discourse” believed that ageism is undermining aging, and that it is high time gerontology and aging researchers took back aging from ageism.

My gratitude goes to the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging and the Department of Health, Aging and Society for their support which enabled me to attend this conference and I look forward to the next meeting of these aging research networks.

Gilbrea Student Group member Kelsey Harvey was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) 2018 conference.  

Impressions from the 2018 British Society of Gerontology and Leisure Studies Association Conferences

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) 47th Annual Conference in Manchester, UK and the Leisure Studies Association (LSA) Conference in Bath, UK. My sincere thanks to the Department of Health, Aging and Society, and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging for their financial support that made these opportunities possible. At both conferences, I had the privilege of presenting a paper on my own work in progress exploring the educative role of exercise instructors for older adults. In addition, I was also honoured to represent my advisor, Dr. Meridith Griffin (PI), and her colleagues, Dr. James Gillett and Dr. Gavin Andrews, for the SSHRC funded project “Playing with Memories: The Elicitation of Leisure Biographies” (see playingwithmemories.ca for details). Not only did I present a paper at BSG on this project, but I participated in a Symposia session: “Doing Leisure in Later Life: Meanings, Movements & Memories” alongside Drs. Cassandra Phoenix, Cornelia Guell, and Erica Bennett.

At both BSG and LSA, I observed that few scholars seemed to identify themselves within the specific academic fields of educational gerontology or leisure studies. Further, it seemed that it was primarily scholars in other disciplines who presented work that could contribute to these two fields. If this is the case, there is reason to be concerned that the theoretical contributions to educational gerontology and to leisure studies will be slowed or diminished as a result.

Please note: my comments in this blog are based on what I heard in presentations and discussions that took place at both BSG and LSA, and are in no way empirical or necessarily representative of broader discussions. That said, however, I believe that it is still important to understand why these sentiments were expressed.

At BSG, the discussion in the symposium “Lifelong Learning and Learning About the Long Life: An Exploration of Educational Gerontology” chaired by Dr. Caroline Holland, was the launch of the Society’s special interest group on educational gerontology (for details, see: https://ageingissues.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/active-minds-with-nowhere-to-go-getting-the-bsg-special-interest-group-on-educational-gerontology-off-the-ground-in-manchester/). This special interest group began in partnership with The Association for Education & Ageing, whose membership has been dwindling. The launch of the group was intended to drive interest to the topic of educational gerontology by leveraging the vast membership of BSG to bring together scholars and stakeholders who are interested in learning and education in later life.

In Canada, we have seen a shift in what constitutes educational gerontology.  Specifically, the Canadian Association of Gerontology’s educational gerontology interest group has recently been re-branded as “Teaching and Learning in Gerontology.” This signals a move away from established definitions of educational gerontology which encompassed three domains: 1) teaching gerontology, such as in higher education; 2) education about aging to the general populace; and 3) teaching older adults, also known as geragogy (Glendenning & Battersby, 1990), to a focus on only the first of those three domains – teaching gerontology.

 At LSA, a similar sentiment was expressed related to leisure studies. While still boasting over 150 attendees at the UK Association’s conference, and with university departments across Canada offering degrees in Leisure Studies, it was noted that what was once a strong academic field has seen a shift in attention toward a focus on tourism and hospitality. Although the vast majority of the papers presented at LSA did not reflect this trend, the shift toward focusing on fields advertising lucrative job prospects is not unusual as higher education responds to market incentives (I was told this as a Master’s student about the shift away from Adult Education programs toward Educational Administration programs). Additionally, like myself, a large number of the attendees of LSA’s conference did not possess a Leisure Studies disciplinary background. Indeed, the Conference’s title “Mobilising Change: Creative and Critical Leisure Practices in the Post-disciplinary Era” acknowledges this blurring of disciplinary boundaries as more interdisciplinary programs, departments, research, and even scholars become the norm.

What can be done? With a multi-faceted issue, such as this, multifaceted approaches might be required. However, if the principle concern, as a result of this shift, is the lack of theoretical contributions to both Educational Gerontology and Leisure Studies, then finding ways to attract emerging and existing scholars to contribute to the development of new and established theories within these disciplinary fields seems to be one approach. Comment on this blog with your ideas!

Kelsey was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the Canadian Association on Gerontology 2018 conference – 'Making It Matter: Mobilizing Aging Research, Practice & Policy' - held in Vancouver, BC (October 18-20, 2018).

 “What do Astronauts and Older Adults Have in Common?”: Highlights of the 2018 CAG 

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Canadian Association on Gerontology’s 47th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting, “Making It Matter: Mobilizing Aging Research, Practice & Policy” in Vancouver, British Columbia. Not only did I present a paper on my research in progress “Group Fitness for Older Persons: The Role of the Exercise Instructor,” but a poster as well, “Exercise Instructors for Older Adult Fitness: A Content Analysis of Training Curricula.” Both of these opportunities were deeply enriching as I was able to network with other researchers and students in gerontology, receive feedback on my research in progress, and even recruit research participants.

One of the main highlights for me at CAG2018 was attending a Symposia Session titled: “Space Health and Aging: What do Astronauts and Older Adults Have in Common?” sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency. The panel described the many stressors that lead to a myriad of physiological changes that one might observe in older adults. For instance, they contend that six months in space can result in vascular stiffening that would take 10 to 20 years to occur on Earth. The underlying reason for this is that being in space is akin to being on bed rest, and 2 months of bed rest can age a person physiologically upwards of 30 years.

Not only did the panel discuss the physiological changes, and what that might mean for interventions for those of us aging on Earth, but also the psychological and social impacts of living in space. One panelist described space as an Isolated and Confined Environment [ICE], drawing a parallel to nursing homes on Earth. Between stress, sleep disruption, and isolation, the psychological toll on both astronauts and residents in long-term care is concerning. This is compounded by the anxiety surrounding death that both of these populations face. This panelist argued for further research, on both astronauts and older adults in ICEs, that addresses two taboo topics: death anxiety and intimacy (close proximity with others, engagement in sex and/or cuddling, and so forth).

I would like to thank the Canadian Association on Gerontology’s Michael T. Sharratt Scholarship and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging for their financial support that made it possible for me to attend CAG2018.

Gilbrea Student Group member Stephanie Hatzifilalithis was awarded a Gilbrea Travel Award to facilitate her travel to the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) 2018 conference.

The Flagship Symposium: Critical Gerontology: Where is it presently, where is it going in the future? BSG 2018
Theories, methods & critical perspectives Time: 16:30 - 18:00 Date: 4th July 2018 Location: Theatre A

I was excited to attend this year’s annual meeting of the British Society of Gerontology (BSG). I have been a student member of BSG since my undergraduate degree but haven’t had the opportunity to attend the conference until this year. I looked forward to meeting with like-minded students and academics to learn about the wide array of gerontological research that is being conducted across the world. As a Society, BSG has over 620 members and were hosts to almost 600 delegates this year from 27 countries around the world. Situated at The University of Manchester campus, I was in a fortunate position to attend sessions led by international scholars and researchers in the field. Reflecting on contemporary concerns from researchers, scholars, practitioners and older people around the world about the injustices associated with ageing in an unequal world, BSG chose ‘Ageing in an Unequal World: Shaping Environments for the 21st Century’ as their conference theme. In addition to the many concurrent presentation streams and posters, were the Keynote Speakers, Professors Armando Barrientos, Susanne Iwarrson, Peter Lloyd Sherlock, Francie Lund and James Nazroo – who all did justice to showcasing the diverse realities of ageing.

This year, I was particularly intrigued by a flagship symposium chaired by Professor Amanda Grenier, the Director of our Gilbrea Centre, with Professor Philipson as the discussant entitled, “Critical Gerontology: Where is it presently, where is it going in the future?” Naturally, this session piqued my interest as a critical researcher because this title involves a surprising combination of words. All too often we have conversations about critical gerontological work that inherently excludes the evolving nature of the field itself. Simultaneously, our conversations about late life often remain tightly focused on the empirical content rather than the evolving nature of the theoretical lens. As noted by Professor Grenier and Professor Philipsson during the course of the symposium, to date, progress has been limited and not helped by what appears to be a retreat from theorizing in social gerontology more broadly.

This session engaged a number of leading scholars. Professor Julia Twigg, who has written widely on age and embodiment, focused on the role of dress in the material constitution of age and engaged in debates around cultural gerontology. Professor Calasanti who focuses on the intersections of age, gender and social inequalities, used an intersectional approach to age, gender and sexuality to lay the foundation for her present research on same-sex partner caregiving. Professor Higgs who investigates and theorizes ‘The Fourth Age’, discussed the social imaginary of dementia, personhood, identity and care in advanced old age. A pioneer in developing cumulative (dis)-advantage theory as an explanatory life-course framework, Professor Dannefer discussed the links between the social dynamics of the life course and age. Professor Kelley, reflected on the present state of critical gerontology and the health disparities over the life course, particularly those related to race, socioeconomic status, and disability. As Chair, Professor Grenier took us through a historical timeline, noting how critical gerontology emerged in the 1980s in the context of crisis affecting the funding of welfare states across Europe and North America, the biomedicalization of aging, and the development of social and cultural critiques of the discrimination facing groups of older people in capitalist societies. Professor Philipson, as discussant, summarized and reflected on the present state of critical gerontology and how it might develop with fresh challenges following the 2008 economic crash, the social consequences of austerity, and widening social and cultural divisions. This was followed by a lively debate reflecting on representations, lifestyles, and embodiment and the need to reconsider the theories and methods that underpin critical gerontology. The session ended with the panel reaching a consensus to reconsider the priorities currently set and to understand and identify new forms of vulnerability and exclusion. As a field we need to investigate the impact of economic performance, the growth in claims of intergenerational injustice, climate change, globalization, urbanization, and the pace of social change. Ultimately, reducing social inequalities remains a key challenge of critical gerontology.

The session was very informative and covered an impressive range of issues that could have been expanded to a whole conference. As a researcher in the social sciences I was happy to see that several of the presenters highlighted the importance of theoretical frameworks and the contributions it provides to the field of gerontology more broadly.

Thank you very much to the following for supporting my work and my trip to Manchester to attend this year’s conference: the Department of Health, Aging and Society, the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging at McMaster University.