SYMPOSIUMS

• Pat Spadafora, former Director of the Centre for Elder Research, an applied research Centre of Excellence, Sheridan College
• Suzanne L. Cook, York University
• Martine Lagacé, Department of Communication, University of Ottawa
• Marcel Mérette, Institutional Research and Planning

Ageism in the workplace creates barriers for older workers and their employment opportunities. Employment and Social Development Canada has gathered experts on this topic to deliver a symposium on ageism in the workplace and solutions that can help to counter this tendency.

In 2016, individuals aged 55 and over, in Canada, accounted for 36% of the working-age population, the highest proportion on record (Statistics Canada, 2017). In a study of 21 countries, including Canada, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2006) found evidence that employers in every country held stereotypical views about older workers, and age discrimination was an issue in almost all countries (Armstrong-Strasse, M. & Lee, M.,2009). Ageism in the workplace usually takes the form of negative stereotypes and attitudes towards older workers which undermines their labour force participation. These age stereotypes can affect decision-making processes in the workplace and lead to discriminatory behaviours and actions. In particular, it has been observed that older workers receive fewer opportunities for job training, development and interviews; receive fewer promotions; and often get treated unfairly by their colleagues and supervisors. These various forms of discrimination have a negative outcome on the retention of older workers in the labour force.

Tackling ageism in the workplace will require a new understanding of aging by all generations.  Shift in attitudes, continuous learning opportunities and intergenerational exchanges and solidarity have been identified as possible solutions in helping promote the labour force participation of older adults.  Radical changes in public discourse (e.g. media, politics, research) on older persons and workers have also been identified as contributing to reduce ageism.

The subject matter experts will present their respective work and policy research as it pertains to various aspects related to the challenges facing labour force participation of older adults and the importance of age-friendly workplaces.

• Linda Fieldstone, ACR Elder Justice Initiative on Eldercaring Coordination
• Michelle Morley, Florida Chapter of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
• Karen Campbell¸ North Florida Office Of Public Guardian, Inc.
• Jane Martin, Ontario Bar Association

Intergenerational conflict can have catastrophic effects when family members disagree over the care and safety of ageing persons. Families must have a way to address their conflict, learn to put aside personal vendettas, concentrate collaboratively on their ageing loved ones and develop support systems that model dignified ageing processes for the youngest generations.

This ground-breaking symposium will present an Intergenerational Conflict Resolution Model for Families with Ageing Persons when conflict has impacted their autonomy, care and safety, developed through the collaborative efforts of the Association for Conflict Resolution and the Florida Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.  Modeled after a process used for high conflict families regarding decisions and care of minor children, “eldercaring coordination” balances incongruities between conflict resolution services provided to young families and those families facing decision-making for ageing persons.

Panelists from the United States and Canada will share excitement about the Elder Justice Initiative on Eldercaring Coordination and provide information about current pilot sites and the ongoing support for those interested in replicating the project. This symposium will address challenges faced when introducing a system of change; reports of reduced risks and increased safety for ageing persons; and scenarios of families healing through eldercaring coordination, with adult children who could not stand in the same room finally able to share space at the bedside of their loved one.

• Justin Derbyshire, HelpAge International
• Prakash Tyagi, GRAVIS
• Clotilda Isdor Kokupima, Saidia Wazee Kasulu
• Jemma Stovell, HelpAge International

The purpose of this symposium is to highlight some major challenges and solutions in the achievement of health and wellbeing for older people in low and middle-income countries. These will be explored in the context of both key global frameworks which offer pathways to advance older people’s right to health and care free of ageism and of age discrimination; and of empirical experience from low income settings. From the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Goal 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals aims “to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”.

• May Bjerre Eiby, Dagmarsminde (Denmark)
• Alan Stephan, Eden Care Communities (Canada)
• Ole Kassow, Cycling Without Age (Denmark)
• Andreas Nikolajsen, EGV Foundation (Social inclusion of older adults) (Denmark)
• Matthew Marquardt, Allied Technical Solutions (Canada)

Demographic trends are changing globally as large segments of population are ageing and facing more complex health needs than ever. These changing trends highlight the need for global and cross-sectoral collaboration to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and provide inspiration required to move the needle further and faster towards creating environments that are built to be inclusive of our ageing population. There is a need for innovative health solutions to keep the elderly active and independent longer.

Through a series of presenters, the Active and Healthy Ageing Symposium will highlight the Canadian and Danish approaches to healthy ageing, mobility and independence. Aspects of age-friendly environments from health technology to innovative elderly care homes and cycling with older adults to story sharing will be explored. The underlying theme of the session will focus on the need to collaborate and move away from operational silos to address complex needs of ageing populations. Specifically, the session will aim to bring together innovative perspectives on inclusive and active ageing and share unique solutions promoting healthy ageing through various user-centered approaches.

• Betsy Werley, Encore.org
• Carrie Deacon, Nesta
• Karin Haist, Koerber Foundation
• Seonju Koh, Seoul 50 Plus Foundation
• Eunjeon Lee, Seoul 50Plus Foundation

New insights and growing experience are defining a new post-midlife period of health, activity and often a desire to leave a legacy. Given the large numbers of people in this age group, we have short-term opportunities to benefit from engaging them; with today’s children living even longer, the programs we launch today will pay long-term dividends for future generations.

Our symposium will share insights and program details from three organizations investing to realize the longevity dividend:

• Encore.org, a US-based organization building a movement to tap the skills and energy of people 50+ for social impact through cultural, social and movement innovation, in connection with a growing network of organizations around the world.
• Nesta, a global UK-based innovation foundation, are currently supporting new ways for people to age well as part of a people-helping-people movement, through projects that actively engage people 50+ to give their time and talents and build stronger local networks, neighbourhoods and better outcomes for citizens.
• Seoul 50Plus Foundation, a non-profit affiliated to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, supports the 50 to 64 age group in designing the next 40 years in the 100-year life by shifting perceptions and ways of life, creating work-life balance, new networks and experiences through education/learning, culture/community, work/participation.
• Moderator Karin Haist leads the Hamburg-based Koerber Foundation’s civil society department, building on her expertise in opportunities of longer lives and promotion of citizen engagement.

Learn what’s behind their successes, the challenges of launching and expanding their programs and how you can adapt their approaches to your work.

These organizations are supporting healthy aging, combating ageism and capitalizing on older adults’ experience as an asset. By embracing this opportunity, we can create a double win — for individuals and for our communities.

• Professor Yaakov Stern, Columbia University
• Professor Michael Valenzuela, Sydney University
• Dr Amit Lampit, University of Melbourne
• Professor Michelle Carlson, Johns Hopkins

Cognitive Reserve (CR) refers to malleable psychological and neurobiological processes that together can help protect and support cognitive health throughout the lifespan. Some of the main drivers of CR are education, occupational complexity and diverse engagement in cognitively-challenging activities in later life. These psychosocial determinants of CR are potentially powerful: meta-analysis has shown that high level engagement in these factors is linked to a 45% lower incidence of dementia over 7 years.

This Symposium will therefore present the latest evidence and concepts about CR and how individuals, community and policy-makers can take advantage of this powerful tool in order to promote cognitive health.

We will begin by outlining the history of CR, as well as identify competing conceptualizations and common misconceptions. This will be followed by a review of some of the biological foundations that underlie CR. Two speakers will then address what can be done to stimulate and promote CR. This includes computerized cognitive training to promote and protect cognition during healthy ageing as well as during the at-risk period of Mild Cognitive Impairment, and complex psychosocial interventions that focus on exposing older adults to new environments that challenge their social, cognitive and physical function.

This Symposium will conclude with a discussion around policy implications for developing and developed nations. Audience participation and contribution will be encouraged and facilitated.

• Jennifer Thompson, Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (CDPC), The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• Lyntara Quirke, Dementia Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
• Megan Corlis, Helping Hand Aged Care, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia with
• Gaynor Parfitt, Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, South Australia, Australia

The Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (CDPC) at the University of Sydney in Australia is a unique federal and industry supported research model with a vision to improve the lives of people with dementia. Presenters in this session represent the Centre, residential aged-care partners, consumers, and researchers. They will share their individual and group experiences and learnings from their participation in this vibrant national research centre that has supported, between 2014 and 2017, thirty-two (32) research activities across the eight Centre themes.

With cognitive and associated functional decline pathologies affecting not only the individual, but also their family and community, they cause significant personal, social and economic consequences for individuals, health systems, and global economies (WHO, 2015). The Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre model was developed at federal level and offers a new narrative for funding and implementing research outcomes across a wide-range of themes focused on improved care for people with dementia and associated functional decline. Academic and system-based researchers, government, peak consumer body, and residential aged-care providers work together under this model. The Centre’s collaborative processes first aided in identifying unmet needs and research priorities for improving care for people with cognitive and related functional decline in Australia, and then project grants were awarded to teams that must include implementation into policy or practice as part of their scope of work.

The CDPC works broadly across eight themes: service model options; pathways and navigation; planning for later life; attitude and culture; clinical guidelines development; functional decline; medication management; and workforce development and education. CDPC research activities are funded under a contributory partnership model, with another unique aspect of the CDPC being that research teams are expected to include consumers ie. people with dementia and/or their carers, across all stages of the research cycle; from Protocol development to final reporting. This enables the embedding of the consumer and end-user perspective into all outcomes and developed resources. CDPC researchers must ensure their research outcomes, outputs, and interventions; develop in collaboration with consumer, industry, policy leaders, and health professionals; to enable real implementation of research-informed systems and attitude change and to improve care for people with dementia in Australia.

• Parminder Raina, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University
• John Lavis, McMaster Health Forum, McMaster University
• Brenda Vrkljan, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University
• Ravi Selvaganapathy, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University

The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) is housed at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.  MIRA was launched in 2016 to amplify the existing research strengths in aging at the University, and to facilitate deeper interdisciplinary partnerships to respond to the opportunities associated with the growing population of older adults in Canada and around the world.  Critical to the work of McMaster’s researchers is the implementation, evaluation and translation of research outputs into practice, including clinical and societal interventions and policies.  Connecting McMaster’s research to the global community through, for example, the WHO Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health, expands the impact of these research outputs.  This symposium will address the five key strategic objectives of the WHO plan, namely i) commitment to action on Healthy Ageing in every country; ii) developing age-friendly environments; iii) aligning health systems to the needs of older populations; iv) developing sustainable and equitable systems for providing long-term care (home, communities, institutions); and v) improving measurement, monitoring and research on Healthy Ageing.  The speakers will describe how McMaster researchers contribute to this global ageing strategy through interdisciplinary research leading to evidence-informed policy.

• Simone Powell (moderator) Public Health Agency of Canada
• Kerri-Leigh Cassidy, Fountain of Health for Optimal Aging
• Francine Knoops Sareda Quah-Vo, Mireille Cyr, Mental Health Commission of Canada
• Kiran Rabheru and Dr. David Conn ,Fountain of Health for Optimal Aging and the Canadian Coalition for Seniors Mental Health
• Claire Checkland, Canadian Coalition for Seniors Mental Health

This symposium will highlight that a range of approaches across sectors and disciplines are needed to target both risk and protective factors that support mental health among older adults. These efforts respond to Canada’s first mental health strategy: Changing Directions, Changing Lives: The Mental Health Strategy for Canada (2012) which identified a number of recommendations for promoting and improving seniors’ mental health. Representatives from key Canadian organizations will share initiatives that address mental health problems and mental illness in later life. These will include interventions broadly covering the mental health spectrum, such as supporting older adults’ resilience and positive thinking; increasing community understanding and support; and increasing the capacity of primary care physicians to promote mentally healthy behaviours.

The discussion will also include interventions targeted at specific mental illness diagnoses, such as enhancing the clinical skills of health providers to address substance use disorders; strengthening the health system to better respond to the mental health needs of seniors and their caregivers; and facilitating the uptake of comprehensive service system guidelines.

The symposium will ask participants to reflect on the implications of highlighted initiatives for their practice or policy area.

• Janet McElhaney, MD, FRCPC, Health Sciences North Research Institute, Northern Ontario School of Medicine
• Shelly McNeil, MD, FRCPC, Canadian Center for Vaccinology, IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia Health Authority, Dalhousie University
• Mark Loeb, MD, MSc, FRCPC, McMaster University

Antimicrobial resistance is “a growing threat to public health and economic growth” (Hamburg G20 Summit. July 2017). The purpose of this panel discussion is to explore the relationship between influenza and pneumococal vaccination and the prevention of antimicrobial resistance. We aim to advocate vaccination as a means “to strengthen health systems and also combat the menace of antimicrobial resistance” (Hamburg G20 Summit Pledge). Global demographic projections forecast a collapse of economic and health systems as the workforce diminishes relative to aging populations. Microbiomes protect against chronic diseases, preserve immune responses and reduce risk of infection; vaccines expose us to pathogens without contributing to antimicrobial resistance. Through individual and herd immune effects, the prevention of influenza and pneumococcal diseases through vaccination can reduce antibiotic use and pressures that lead to antibiotic resistance; decrease hospitalization rates and related exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria; and prevent disability in older adults which increases risk for all infections and re-infections associated with antibiotic resistance.

• Dr Amy D’Aprix
• Sandra Timmermann
• Kari Henley, Age Without Borders
• Judy Rough, Society Of Certified Senior Advisors

Caring for one another as we age has become more challenging, as we are living longer, with more complex medical conditions. As global cultural lifestyles continue to move away from multi-generational living; caring for each other has become increasingly more difficult, stressful and expensive. Unfortunately, most family members or friends do not identify themselves as a “caregiver,” and subsequently do not access the levels of training, support and innovations that could help the most. As the global aging population reaches a tipping point within the decade, the need for innovations is vital – for both professionals, as well as family and friends serving as part time or full-time careers.

In this symposium, innovations in caregiving will be explored from four distinct perspectives: building caregiving education and community through the power of the internet, preserving financial well-being, managing the emotional and family dynamics of caring, as well as exploring a live scenario of how to think “out of the box” for innovations for older adults who wish to care for themselves.

• Moderator – Michael Kidd, International Longevity Centre Canada
• Katherine Kline, S.E.R.R., and Co-chair of the General Assembly of Partners Older Persons Partner Constituent Group
• Kathie Paddock, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
• Bonnie Schroeder, Council on Aging of Ottawa
• Sylvia Gascon, Isalud University, Buenos Aires

The New Urban Agenda (NUA), includes numerous references to the role, position and agency of older persons in society.  It identifies older persons as a group requiring specific attention in urban planning and development, including consultation about preferences and needs in the evolving built environment.  The WHO has long recognized these facts, and the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities (AFCs), developed over the last decade, includes over 500 communities in 37 countries.

This symposium will establish the potential of an integrated view of the NUA and AFC.  A related theme is the relevance of the NUA and AFCs as tools to achieve the key promise of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that ‘no one is left behind’.  Exploring and identifying links among these three agendas can energize activities that advance all three.

The Moderator will sketch the linkages.  Expert panelists will outline the NUA, and the implementation of the AFCs initiative in Canada, and other experts, representing different parts of the world, will speak about local activities that reflect the common objectives and benefits for older people of the NUA and AFCs.  These will be local, practical examples of planning and implementation of initiatives that cross artificial boundaries and have a positive impact on the shared environment, and on older persons’ quality of life.

The panel will be interactive, with time allotted for symposium attendees to share views, spurring thinking for connections and further work.  The symposium will focus on public shared spaces, including parks, streets, and multi-activity spaces, be they private/commercial or public, as these are elemental to the NUA, and to AFCs, and to SDG #11.

• Rangimahora Reddy, Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust
• Dr Mary Simpson, University of Waikato
• Yvonne Wilson, Nga Rau Tatangi Ltd
• Dr Sophie Nock, University of Waikato
• Kirsten Johnston, Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust

Physical and social environments are powerful influences on Healthy Ageing. They shape trajectories of capacity and can extend what a person is able to do (their functional ability). Age-friendly environments allow older people to be and to do what they have reason to value by enabling them to maximize both their capacity and their ability.  From inception to implementation, the Moa Crescent urban kaumātua village required a culturally responsive approach in order to achieve a truly age-friendly environment for kaumātua/older Māori.

One of the first urban examples of community-led culturally responsive social housing for kaumātua in Aotearoa, Moa Crescent was developed by Te Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa (and later its subsidiary Ngā Rau Tātangi) during the period 2012-2014. Consistent with culturally responsive housing models, the village offers shared common areas for communal village interaction and supports kaumātua-supporting-kaumātua.

This session reports on a strength-based, Māori organisation, and kaumātua focused, holistic, and cultural approach to creating, secure, affordable, sustainable, age-friendly and healthy housing for kaumātua. The vision for our study is to develop a model of best practice for other Māori organizations and communities who want to create culturally responsive, urban kaumātua housing. The overall study applies community-based participatory methods to ensure stakeholder relevance and cultural appropriateness.

The intended outcomes of this study are to:

1. Improve the development of quality and supply of culturally responsive urban kaumātua housing by identifying the success factors of the Moa Crescent village. This is with a view to: identify improvements in the current model; create sustainable environments where kaumātua well-being is supported through connectedness of the community and; address the needs of our rapidly growing kaumātua population for secure, affordable, and healthy housing.
2. Develop a potential Best Practice Tool for use by other Māori organizations and communities which want to create culturally responsive, urban kaumātua housing; and
3. Create the foundation for a research agenda to investigate how to translate the successful organizing and residential components of Moa Cres for other Māori organisations wanting to provide secure, healthy and affordable homes for kaumātua and/or whanau.

The findings to date highlight the multiple relationships across numerous sectors needed to create culturally responsive age-friendly environments in -centred intervention designed to address the health and wellbeing needs of Māori kaumātua.

Key findings, themes and lessons learnt will be presented.

• John Puxty, Queens University & Centre for Studies in Aging and Health at Providence Care & Sarah Webster, Centre for Studies in Aging & Health at Providence Care
• Dominic Ventresca, Niagara Age-Friendly Network
• Bonnie Schroeder, Age-Friendly Ottawa, The Council on Aging of Ottawa
• Angela Andrews, Aging Well Committee for Haliburton County and, HKPR District Health Unit
• Lucy Marco, Grand River Council on Aging & Alexandra Graham, City of Brantford

Age-Friendly Communities (AFCs) promote healthy aging, independence, and inclusion by improving the built and social environments. Though a provincial framework has provided a common language and a common approach to planning and implementation, communities are seeing success via the opportunity to adapt planning and implementation processes to meet the unique context and needs of their communities.

This session will include an initial review of factors that contribute to the sustainability of age-friendly community planning and implementation efforts, followed by case-study examples from four communities that have been engaged in AFC planning and implementation for 7+ years. Each speaker will describe their approach and share lessons learned, demonstrating the variations in approach, breadth of impact and value of harnessing the collective wisdom.

Though case study presentations will vary, it is the belief of this group that sharing these experiences will help accelerate planning for new communities and strengthen implementation efforts of more established communities.

• Amanda ORourke, 8 80 Cities
• Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, City of Toronto- Sidewalks for All
• Minaz Asani-Kanji, Park People
• Dorothea Torrico, Cycling without Age

Cracks in a sidewalk, long wait times for buses, or streets without benches are inconvenient for everyone, but can severely limit the freedom of mobility for older adults, young children, caregivers with strollers, or people with mobility devices. When we design a streetscape to accommodate resting places for older adults with benches and shade, we create inviting public spaces for everyone to enjoy. When we create walkable and bikeable cities for all ages and abilities we create opportunities for all people to enjoy the public life of the city. At its core, engaging older adults in city building is about extending the freedom of mobility and the accessibility of public spaces for everyone

Four panelists will outline concrete ideas on how to create an age-friendly public realm.

1. 8 80 Cities speaks to engaging the older adults in city building and global best practices on creating age-friendly public spaces
2. Councillor Wong-Tam speaks to the Sidewalks for All initiative, the importance of creating senior friendly pedestrian spaces, and her work as chair of the Disability, Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee
3. Park People speak to creating parks and green spaces that meet the needs of an aging population (or any other specific ideas you have on older adults and parks)
4. Cycling Without Age speaks to how cycling can be made more age friendly

• Christine O’Kelly, Age Friendly University Global Network Coordinator
• Michelle Porter, University of Manitoba
• Laura Harrington, Mc Master Institute for Research on Ageing.

In 2012, DCU established the concept and principles of an Age-Friendly University and was joined by Arizona State University and Strathclyde University in Scotland, to become the world’s first Age-Friendly Universities Network(AFU).

By working together to promote an inclusive approach to healthy and active ageing through our research agenda, focus on innovation to address specific issues affecting older adults, curriculum development and the enhancement of learning opportunities for people across the generations, our vision to develop an age-friendly university expanded to a global network of universities with diverse expertise working together for common goals.

Since 2012 the network has developed to include 20 universities representing Europe, Canada, USA, and South East Asia and it continues to grow.

This Symposium focuses on the evolution and application of the Ten Principles of an Age-Friendly University and how they are being implemented in Dublin City University, the University of Manitoba and Mc Master University, Canada

• Eunju Hwang, Virginia Tech, USA
• Nancy Brossoie, Virginia Tech, USA
• Kathleen Parrott, Virginia Tech, USA
• Mira Ahn, Texas State University, USA
• Seoyeon Lee, Jeju Ageing Society Research Center, South Korea
• Kimin Song, Hanyang University, South Korea

This symposium is particularly interested in the efforts of communities’ responses to accessible and affordable housing issues in the United States and South Korea. The first presentation discusses housing modification projects in addressing age friendly priority areas. The regional interest of the first presentation is in Southwest Virginia communities in the U.S. The second presentation analyzes the needs of low-income older renters living in subsidized housing in a North Carolina community in the U.S., in an effort to address affordable housing issues in Greensboro. The third presentation will highlight housing related themes and priorities identified in age friendly studies conducted in rural Texas communities. The forth presentation will demonstrate barriers related to the housing domain based on older adults’ own assessments in provincial wide age friendly projects in Jeju, South Korea. Finally, the fifth presentation will share a story of decaying coal mining communities’ efforts to create their communities more age friendly and role of unique housing developments. 

• Eunju Hwang, Virginia Tech, USA
• Nancy Brossoie, Virginia Tech, USA
• Sandy Troth, Grayson County, USA
• Seung-Hahn Koh, Jeju Research Institute, South Korea
• Kimin Song, Hanyang University, South Korea

The purpose of this symposium is to discuss the challenges that local communities have experienced in making their communities more age friendly. The goal of WHO’s Age Friendly Initiatives (AFI) is to promote active aging which emphasizes opportunities for health, participation and security to enhance quality of life as we become older. It allows full participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs. Because each community or country faces unique challenges, each community has different priorities of AFI aspects and it has faced different challenges in assessing their progress and outcomes. Addressing such challenge at the global level, this symposium funded by the Global Research Network of National Research Foundation of Korea will focus on similar challenges experienced in local American and Korean communities.

This symposium consists of four presentations. The first presentation will provide an overview of three different approaches of AFI based on the team’s experience working with existing age friendly communities.  The second presentation will highlight the leadership of local senior advocacy group to become a member of WHO Age-Friendly Community Network and to address the priorities of its community needs in a small town. The third presentation will argue the challenges of bottom-up approach to initiate province-wide age friendly projects and challenges measuring long-term health impacts of AFI and different priorities identified from older adults and service providers based on Jeju age friendly projects. The last presentation will examine measurement issues addressing the unique cultural aspects in the Korean context. Finally, the chair of symposium will discuss policy implications for policy makers and reflection on AFI for active aging.

• Dr Jan Hively, Pass It On Network
• Kari Henley, Age without Borders
• Judy Rough, Society of Certified Senior Advisors
• Kathleen Bailey, Age Friendly Yarmouth Senior Services
• Moira Allan, Pass It On Network

Digital technologies have given us the power to develop grassroots advocacy for Healthy Ageing. We will show how digital communities are crossing the divides of gender/race/income and moving around the tensions of competitive nationalism to work collaboratively and effectively both locally and globally.

We will show how digital communities are addressing each and all of the four IFA Conference themes, by:

1. Combatting Ageism through digital education;
2. Strengthening networks supporting Healthy Ageing;
3. Leveraging innovation to develop Age-Friendly Environments; and
4. Addressing and reducing Inequalities.

This symposium (Sub-theme #3.6) will show how the use of communication technologies can create an Age-Friendly Environment for older adults around the world to realize their potential for healthy, active, positive ageing. Interaction with innovators and professionals and role models for Healthy Ageing worldwide is empowering older adults to share their strengths and help each other, themselves, and their communities.

Jan Hively will provide an overview of the presentations and introduce the presenters, who will illustrate their words with short videos to show how digital communities are addressing each of the four conference themes. Dr. Hively will moderate Q&A after each presenter and at the end of the session. Handouts will include a list of relevant media resources. Listeners will be asked to fill out a feedback form with contact information if they want follow-up.

• Grace Chan, International Federation on Ageing
• Amy D’Prix, International Federation on Ageing
• Sandra Hirst, International Federation on Ageing
• Graeme Prior, International Federation on Ageing

We live in an era of numerous challenges, from global warming, to nuclear attacks, to terrorism. In this era of accelerated internationalization where communication systems, the media, travel, and multicultural diversity reinforce the interconnectedness of our world, such issues are an increasingly intrinsic aspect of life for all individuals, societies, and governments. However, few challenges are as inevitable as global ageing, and few are as likely to have such a huge and enduring an impact upon living standards, governmental budgets, nations’ economic stability, health care delivery, and geo-political systems.

The International Federation on Ageing (IFA) is a global non-governmental organization with a membership base of NGOs, the corporate sector, academia, government, and individuals. Its’ mandate is ‘generating positive change for older people throughout the world by stimulating, collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information on rights, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life of people as they age.’

By examining current trends in ageing policy and practice, we not only address a fascinating and exciting field, but we gain a rich understanding of the complicated linkages that connect cultures and older people in our modern world. Presented are a series of papers addressing the perspectives of the Vice Presidents of the International Federation on Ageing from their geographic regional responsibilities. They address strategies and activities that IFA – VPs employs to achieve its goals. Concluding is the perspective of the VP-International, which illustrates the connectivity of our global world.

• Emily A. Greenfield, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Renie Carniol, The Grotta Fund for Senior Care
• Julia Stoumbos, The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation
• Janet Sharma, Age-Friendly Englewood
• Elizabeth Abbott, Age-Friendly Ridgewood
• Sheila Brogan, Age-Friendly Ridgewood
• Cathy Rowe, SOMA Two Towns for All Ages
• Katherine York, Lifelong Montclair

The session will begin with an overview of a local grant-making initiative to support the development of Age-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs) in northern New Jersey. Then, leaders of AFCIs within four different communities across two counties will share their experiences of developing their initiatives within their local contexts. Commonalities to be addressed include selecting collective actions that bring diverse stakeholders together; drawing on networks of strength among local organizations and individual residents; developing channels for sharing information within the community; and actively engaging with a professional network of age-friendly leaders outside of one’s own community.

The presentations also will highlight how AFCIs recognize and tailor efforts based on community characteristics, such as the local political climate, existing channels for community-wide communication, and local culture around inter-organizational collaboration and public-private partnerships. A discussant will discuss the implications of the presenters’ remarks for a global movement to sustain, evaluate, expand, and strengthen age-friendly efforts

• Suzanne Garon, Université De Sherbrooke
• Sabrina Marino, Seniors’ Secretariat of the Government of Quebec
• Isabelle Lizee,
• Nicole Bolduc

The Age-Friendly Cities movement has expanded considerably over the past years around the world. This is especially the case in Québec where AFC has experienced an important increase which began in 2008 with 7 pilot-projects and has now grown to 860 engaged municipalities in 2018.  This represents more than 90% of the total population of the province of Québec. With the intention of creating inclusive environments, the Government of Quebec has adopted in 2018 a new version of its policy on aging, the «Aging and Living together at Home, in One’s Community, in Québec»   In order to implement this policy, the multi-sectorial (different governments’ levels, community organizations, seniors associations, citizens, etc.) proposed approach relies on two components: cross-sectoral participation and community development. Consequently, the Seniors’ Secretariat had put in place a National Coordination Committee.

This symposium will describe the Québec experience. It will be comprised of four parts. Each partner (Government, seniors’ organization, a non-profit organization and the research team) will present their goals, work experience and comment on the newly emerging results. Finally, there will be an open discussion with the public.

Objectives:

1. To demonstrate how AFC is being implemented and evaluated in Québec (the Québec model);
2. To build upon the synergies between all of the involved actors: Government (Seniors’ Secretariat, a non-profit organisation working with the municipal stakeholders, a seniors’ organisation and a research team.)
3. Other questions will be addressed during this presentation. For example, “What are some of the obstacles that local initiatives face? How top-down and bottom-up approaches can work together?”

• Dr John Feather, Grantmakers in Aging
• Dr Jennifer Campbell, Grantmakers in Aging
• Dr Prakash Tyagi, GRAVIS
• Jerome Sam-De Mwaya, HelpAge International in Tanzania

Since its inception in 2010, the WHO Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities has grown to include twelve affiliate programs with state or national responsibility and 500 individual cities and communities in 37 countries, covering over 155 million people worldwide. Yet despite the exponential growth of this program, age-friendly programs in lower-income countries remain rare. With a few exceptions, age-friendly efforts have taken place only in mid- to high-resource areas, denying this effective model to areas that stand to benefit greatly from this approach. There is a perception that the age-friendly model requires considerable funding and human resources to implement, making it not available to low-income/high stress communities. However, successful – even transformative – age-friendly projects exist in very challenged communities, including: Manchester, U.K.; Brownsville, Texas; Macon Bibb, Georgia; New York City; Philadelphia; Miami; and various places in Maine.  These are all places where low-income communities have been able to implement the AF model to make significant advances in improving the lives of members of those communities.

Lower-resource communities in inner-urban and rural areas within the US and developing countries share a similar strength and challenge; both are finding themselves raising grandchildren.  Older adults in East Africa are experiencing the upheaval of traditional roles due to loss of the middle generation to AIDS, while older adults in the US are increasingly needing to raise grandchildren because of the middle generation’s drug use, the high rate of incarceration, and the need for adults to be working more than one job to secure sufficient income.  This shared experience of assuming parenting later in life is increasingly a common experience of aging.

• Margaret Denton, Hamilton Council on Ageing & McMaster University
• Lisa Maychuk, City of Hamilton
• Lillian Wells, Toronto Council on Aging
• Michael Ackerman, Wilfred Laurier University
• Heather Thompson, Community Development Halton

The Southern Ontario Age-Friendly Network has representatives from 18 communities in the south and western areas of Ontario, Canada, who are at various stages on the journey to becoming age-friendly.  Meeting on a bi-monthly basis we share our stories, learn from each other and discuss barriers and opportunities.  This symposium presents information on a number of innovative programs in the areas of housing, transportation, outdoor spaces, and age-friendly businesses being implemented by our members.

In the first session, Heather Thompson presents the Halton HomeShare Program.  HomeShare is a solution that enables older adults to remain in their own homes for as long as possible.  It is a living arrangement   whereby the home owner shares their home with another for a reduced rent and or assistance with the care of their homes.

Lisa Maychuk will present on a collaborative project in the City of Hamilton designed to decrease the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities for senior road users.  It offers both an education and skills building workshop along with an awareness building campaign.

This is followed by Margaret Denton and Shelagh Kiely who will present on a second collaborative project in Hamilton titled “Let’s Get Moving which is designed to educate older adults on the mutual benefit of various forms of active transportation.  Older adults will participate in 3 sets of workshops including, ‘Let’s Take the Bus’, ‘Let’s Take a Walk’ and “Let’s Ride a Bike’. Each workshop includes an educational presentation and an experiential component.

The fourth presenter, Lillian Wells will describe a Toronto project in which senior and youth volunteers are paired with local businesses to share information about aging, the age-friendly movement and how businesses could enhance their services to older adults.   The last presenters, Michael Ackerman and Cathy Poirier will outline the development and results of a three-year experiment in intergenerational learning undertaken by Wilfred Laurier University and the Grand River Council on Aging that brought together students and senior community members to study the genre of autobiography or life-writing.

• Dr Margaret Denton, Hamilton Council on Aging & McMaster University
• Taralyn Prindiville, Community Development Halton
• Sharon Livingstone, Cambrdige Council on Aging
• Michelle Dellamora, Age Friendly London

The Southern Ontario Age-Friendly Network (SOAFN) has representatives from 18 communities in the south western area of Ontario Canada. who are at various stages on the journey to becoming age-friendly.   Meeting on a bi-monthly basis we share our stories, learn from each other and discuss barriers and opportunities to support each other and help advance our age-friendly plans at both the local and regional level.

Members identified lack of access to health and community services, financial entitlements and opportunities for recreation and leisure as a barrier to the health and wellbeing of many older people.  Further, social isolation reduces the ability to access supports and live independently.  Many SOAFN members are working on initiatives to reduce social isolation in their communities and connect older adults to services. The purpose of this symposium is to present four of these initiatives.

First, Taralyn Prindiville presents the Hamilton Seniors Isolation Impact Plan, an initiative to reduce isolation among seniors in Hamilton.  Using a collective impact model seven innovative and mutually reinforcing projects are linked with a shared goal of reaching and connecting 20% of isolated seniors in Hamilton over three years.  This presentation will describe   the impacts of the initiative in its first and second years, as well as lessons learned in reducing isolation among Seniors using a collective impact model.

Second, Heather Thompson presents Halton Senior Connector program, a volunteer program offering resources and referrals to seniors, their families and caregivers, supporting and empowering others with the knowledge to make informed decisions.

Third, Sharon Livingstone presents The Seniors as Mentors and Leaders project that aims to alleviate and prevent social isolation among high risk, low-income seniors in Cambridge by training senior volunteers to become mentors.

Our fourth presenter, Michelle Dellamora will describe the City of London’s Hub and Satellite Service Model – neighbourhood outreach programs from the City’s larger Seniors’ Centres to 26 social and affordable housing buildings in London. The Seniors’ Satellites contribute to older adults’ ability to remain active and socially engaged by providing affordable, accessible physical activity and leisure programming that is near their homes and often situated in existing community hubs. Implementation of the Satellites is supported by senior-serving organizations that are members of the AFLN and have committed to reducing barriers to participation and supporting healthy aging.  Margaret Denton will present the Older Adult Peer Connector Program, a collaborative project in the City of Hamilton that trained older adult volunteers as peer connectors, volunteers and professionals working with seniors on how to access information on community and health services, financial entitlements and recreation and leisure activities. On line and print resources were developed to assist in accessing resources.

• Dr Kathy Black, University of South Florida
• Dr Stephen Golant
• Esther Greenhouse

This symposium will overview two broad categories of actionable strategies that are both designed to increase the aging in place opportunities for older people.

The first set of strategies examines the potential of implementing universal design principles in the dwellings and communities of older people.  Mixed methodological findings from Florida’s first global age-friendly community will be presented to reveal the perceptions of their residents regarding the importance of these efforts. It will examine both the business and government adaptations needed to put these principles into practice.

The second set of strategies emphasizes how the independent living arrangements of older people are enhanced by insuring that they are connected to needed goods, services, and care resources in their communities. It will explore the desirability of alternative and substitutable ways—transportation, internet technologies, homesharing, and smart home technologies—that older people can access their everyday needs. These strategies are rooted in the paradigm that an enabling built environment is a crucial variable and rationale for creating successful age-friendly communities.

• Dr John Muscedere, Canadian Frailty Network
• Dr Melissa Andrew, Dalhousie University
• Dr Cara Tannenbaum, Université de Montréal
• Dr Gloria Gutman, Simon Fraser University
• Dr Jennifer Walker, Laurentian University – Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health

Frailty is a common, yet under-recognized health state associated with functional decline, chronic multiple health problems and poor health outcomes in late life. The risk of becoming frail increases with age, although frailty isn’t simply a function of getting older. Older adults living with frailty are over-represented in all sectors of the healthcare system, and frailty is associated with increased healthcare resource consumption.  The Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) was funded by the Networks of Centres of Excellence recognizing the growing prevalence of frailty in Canada and the need for more evidence to improve the complex care needs of older Canadians living with frailty.

Over one million older Canadians are medically frail and in 10 years it is estimated that over two million Canadians will be living with frailty.   However, the burden of living with frailty is not equal among our population.  Social inequalities faced by older adults living with frailty present challenges to receiving appropriate and timely health care.   The prevalence of frailty in older women is higher than in men and because of their longevity older women are more likely to be living with frailty for a longer period of time, into late life.

The older LGBTQI community living with frailty face unique health care issues in late life since they’re more likely to live alone and less likely to have a partner or children and thus more likely to be reliant on care from close friends and formal care services. In addition, LGBTQI older persons are more likely to experience discrimination by residents and staff within long-term care facilities which increases their chances of poor health outcomes due to isolation and neglect.

Indigenous people have been shown to have poorer health and social outcomes than non-Indigenous people, with markedly higher frailty levels at younger ages. Seriously ill older Indigenous adults living with frailty also experience poorer health care services, some of which may be a function of being remotely located.   For instance, palliative care services in northern Nunavik communities in Canada are essentially non-existent. As a result, Inuit patients that are frail and terminally ill often require transfer to larger urban health centres, which jeopardizes their well being by stripping away the social supports that are essential to their social and spiritual well-being.

This symposium, presented by CFN’s Network of researchers will present the inequalities and challenges faced by these groups and provide potential solutions.

• Georgina Johnstone, Bolton Clarke Research Institute
• Judy Lowthian, Bolton Clarke Research Institute
• Rajna Ogrin, Bolton Clarke Research Institute

Population ageing alongside increased migration and other social trends, impact the lives of older people.  Many working adults live away from their birthplace, leaving ageing parents without close family nearby to care for them. Younger people are also less likely to live with older generations. With declining support from families or a partner, the proportion of older people living alone is increasing worldwide. Australian women in particular are more likely to live in a lone person household as they age compared to Australian men. Older women who live alone are often socially and financially disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts, and longevity is typically accompanied by multiple chronic health conditions.  Furthermore, many older women find themselves isolated, in financial decline, and ill-equipped to meet the challenges of living alone with increasingly complex health concerns. The knowledge gap is significant relating to older women living alone with an absence of proven strategies to optimize their wellbeing and independence while living in the community.

This symposium presents the findings of a multi-component, mixed-methods study that uses co-creation to fill this gap in proven strategies for Australian women aged 55 or older who are living alone. The aim of this research is to optimize the wellbeing of older women, focusing on the social, economic and health disadvantages facing this group. This symposium will present four distinct components of this study; a systematic literature review, analysis of routinely collected health data from home-visiting nurses, interviews with women aged 55 or older, and co-creation forums that begin to bridge the gap in service provision to this group. In addition to the findings of each component, presenters will discuss the insights gained from conducting a multi-part project founded in co-creation. This study is building a foundation for co-creating new strategies to support the health and well-being of older women living alone in the community.

• Siu Mee Cheng, Ryerson University / Canadian Centre for Accreditation
• Christina Bisanz, CHATS
• Deborah Andrews, South East Ottawa Community Health Centre
• Rejean Hebert

The panel will comprise a discussion on a case definition that was developed to assist in identifying integrated health and social services initiatives in Canada.  The case definition was based on a review of literature that identified common characteristics of integrated health and social care initiatives, and eight themes were identified for 20 characteristics:  patient-care, program goals, measurement, quality, accountability and responsibility, information sharing, culture and leadership, performance monitoring, and staff and professional interaction.  A search of Canadian-based integrated initiatives reveal that such initiatives are at the community-level, and that they tend towards linkage and coordination forms of integration.  The aims of these initiatives have been to coordinate services delivery across both the health and the social services delivery partners and/or to enhance communication amongst the partners.   Reasons for the slow emergence of this phenomena in Canada include: lack of government policies, the continued existence of silos within Canadian governments on the matter of social and health care issues; and the impact of New Public Management within the social and health care broader public sectors.  Despite these contextual challenges, there are examples of integrated health and social care initiatives across Canada.

The panel will also showcase Canadian-based examples, including the CHATS initiative, Home At Last, an Aging at Home initiative that seeks to meet the health and social care needs of older adults in Ontario, and is uniquely driven by a social care service provider organization that has established partnerships with its regional health partners to help maintain discharged older adult patients in the home.   Quebec’s internationally renowned demonstration project, PRISMA, a coordination integration model comprised of public, private and voluntary health and social service organizations, will also be outlined, including the evaluative results of this project, that was developed to support continuity of care for seniors living at home.

• Lionel J. Tupman, WEL Partners
• Arieh A. Bloom, WEL Partners
• Kate Stephens, WEL Partners

This symposium will discuss the legal framework governing Indigenous wills, estates, and guardianship in Canada in the context of a potential constitutional challenge to the Indian Act and the impact of the Act on Indigenous rights.

Under a legal structure that remains fundamentally unchanged in the almost 150 years since the coming into force of the first iteration of the Indian Act, the Crown holds all First Nations land in Canada in trust, while the bands and band members that reside on First Nations reserves have only a possessory interest in the land. As a consequence of this property ownership regime, many important areas of Indigenous elder law – namely wills, estates, and guardianship of property – fall under the federal Indian Act rather than the parallel provincial legislation.

The federal jurisdiction over First Nations lands creates unique challenges in various areas of elder law for First Nations members living on reserve. Meanwhile, the broad powers granted to the Minister under the Indian Act to determine matters related to Indigenous wills, estates, and guardianship of property, raise issues of constitutionality and demonstrate the enduring paternalism of the Act.

This problematic legislative regime should be understood in the broader socioeconomic context of life on reserve. As the result of centuries of colonial policy, Indigenous persons living on reserves are more likely than other Canadians to lack employment, to lack a post-secondary education, to live in crowded homes or lone parent households, and to require major repairs to their homes. Moreover, access to legal and social services is often limited on remote reserves, creating additional barriers to Indigenous persons wishing to plan for death or incapacity, or wishing to access services related to guardianship and personal care.

• Rangimahora Reddy, Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust
• Pare Meha, Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust
• Dr Sophie Nock, University of Waikato
• Dr Mary Simpson, University of Waikato

In spite of research efforts designed to engage with Indigenous groups to better develop, and deliver, culturally based health programmes, health inequities persist for Indigenous communities, and more so for older Indigenous persons. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori kaumātua (elders 55-years-plus) do not realize their full potential because the dominant culture fails to recognise and respond to either, their roles within Te Ao Māori (Māori world), or their ongoing and emerging health needs. Innovative, culture-centred approaches are needed to privilege Māori kaumātua voices when identifying health, wellbeing, and life-transition related issues to address kaumātua health and wellbeing needs and associated inequities.

This panel reports on a culture-centred programme that took a strengths-based approach to highlight the potential of kaumātua mana motuhake (i.e., identity, autonomy) to extend meanings of improved health outcomes for Māori by having kaumātua be “tuakana-teina” (i.e., peer supporters). “Tuakana-teina” is a Māori cultural concept that encapsulates relationships between older and younger, same-sex siblings or cousins. Tuakana-teina support has been used effectively in education settings with younger Māori, but not with kaumātua. Our research, involved kaumātua working with kaumātua within tuakana-teina/peer support relationships as an approach to addressing health, wellbeing, and transitions in later life. This approach was driven by kaumātua themselves.