Seniors Are Cool is an incredible educational video! The full version is only available on dvd so far, but you can check out a little preview here!
Also, I had a fascinating meeting today with two women in who in inter-generational education, more to come on that soon!
Housing, Food, Green Space, Transit, Street Life, Recreation, Safety, Community Engagement, Inter-generational Commitment
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Elder Abuse Training
I attended a workshop about inter-generational education (which included a very impressive video called "Seniors Are Cool" which I strongly suggest you check out...I will find the link and post it as soon as I can.) I also learned about Community Response Networks, the law relating Power of Attorney and the rights of older adults in choosing and changing their PoA, how older adults can avoid financial scams, and best practices for non-Aboriginal professionals who are entering First Nations communities to help address issues of mistreatment. There was so much more, this is just a snapshot of some of the things that were covered. More to come soon!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Age Friendly Communitites in Ontario
University of Waterloo partnered with MAREP, Alzheimer Society, and the Research Institute for Aging have developed a website with tools and resources aimed to guide communities toward "age-friendly" solutions, check out their website: http://afc.uwaterloo.ca. I found the image above at: http://www.marep.uwaterloo.ca/Age-Friendly/Age-FriendlyCommunityInitiative.htm
How much do you know about seniors?
The Ontario Seniors Secretariat has created a quiz to promote awareness of the needs of the aging population. I took the quiz and scored 60/70 or 66.66%, and I work in the field of aging (uh oh)! Actually, I would be very interested to see what you think of it. I find it a bit generous/overly optimistic...but maybe that is because the negative stories are the ones that get the most press, or maybe it has to do with the kind of sampling the government did in the studies that the data is based on...In any case, the more knowledge out there the better!
Check out the quiz here: http://www.apps.mcl.gov.on.ca/agingquiz/englishQuiz.asp
Check out the quiz here: http://www.apps.mcl.gov.on.ca/agingquiz/englishQuiz.asp
Friday, October 15, 2010
Safe Sex & Aging
Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times
NICE isn't just nice, it's cutting edge
National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE) is an international network of researchers, practitioners and students dedicated to improving the care of older adults in Canada and abroad. What makes this non-profit unique is that it supports evidence-based interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer, student mentorship, and international network engagement with the goal to improve care for older adults.
In addition to pushing forward research projects in the field of aging (click here to view the project page), NICE operates through a network of theme teams and committees committed to putting research into practice. The theme teams examine evidenced-based literature to create user-friendly pocket tools which can be disseminated in inter-professional and community contexts. The committees explore golden standards, push for curricula development, and encourage students in the field of life course and aging. These bodies include researchers, students and practitioners from several disciplines to emphasize the importance of inter-disciplinary activities to create positive change in the field of aging.
If you are interested in learning more about the NICE pocket tools, click here and you can order some FREE of charge.
Age-Friendly New York
Well, I am thus far impressed with what I see of New York City's age-friendly initiative,
being led by the non-profit New York Academy of Medicine. The website even uses the words "from the perspective of seniors" - this could turn out well!
The Age-friendly New York City website states that the campaign is being steered by "a committee of policymakers, service providers, community leaders, and seniors [who were] convened to advise the Academy on the implementation of a comprehensive assessment as well as the analysis and dissemination of results." Ok, so far so good.
The page goes on to discuss the various activities that contributed to the initial research for this initiative, including "self assessment by city agencies", and "expert roundtables [on issues of] Business, Housing Development, Civic Engagement, Transportation, Tenant Rights, Social Services, and Health". It doesn't sound like older adults were part of these roundtables; maybe that is because they were targeted in other components of the study such as Community Forums and Seniors Focus Groups. Personally, I am troubled by what sounds like a separation between the consulting experts and the individual's with personal experience and expertise with the issues being discussed.
Since I work in research, I am empathetic to the fact that there is always a reason why things go the way they do. Sometimes you are operating according to a mandate from higher up. Sometimes you just have really limited time and smaller groups of like-minded individuals are perhaps the efficient way to move forward. While these things may be true, I can't help but worry that this is contributing to a dubious form of knowledge production where the "elite", so-to-speak, are meeting in one room to discuss an issue, while the community members (those actually "living the issue") are meeting somewhere else... I imagine that the City of New York has the very best of intentions, but that isn't an excuse to avoid an integrative approach where diverse groups collaborate directly on early stage development of large expressively stated community-focused initiatives. If this kind of engagement strategy is not feasible, for whatever reason, it would still be good to know what happened. I have no doubt that clear communication would assure parties that truly collaborative approaches have not been forgotten, even if a modified approach has been taken for whatever reason.
Maybe you are not so worried about community engagement; I just came out of a seminar on this topic and am feeling particularly passionate about the importance of meaningful public participation in policy and planning.
In spite of my concerns, there is an impressive report of the findings of New York's Age-Friendly City study which restores my confidence in New York's age-friendly initiative. From the looks of the early pages, this report is everything that city's age-friendly website leaves to be desired. The research is detailed and relevant, there is meaningful inclusion of older adult contributions, the photography is lovely. While New York's age-friendly city website seemed to understate the importance of older adult contributions to the research, this report makes very clear that this work was undertaken with commitment to the voices of New York's older adults. The methodology section (p. 6) provides comprehensive information about the research that took place and its various components. A Limitations section (p. 9) also provides an earnest description of excluded populations of older adults and mention of areas for future research. There is also reference made to a Technical Report which apparently includes a more detailed rendering of the project's quantitative findings.
There are several other additional documents which further build the credibility of this project. These include:
being led by the non-profit New York Academy of Medicine. The website even uses the words "from the perspective of seniors" - this could turn out well!
The Age-friendly New York City website states that the campaign is being steered by "a committee of policymakers, service providers, community leaders, and seniors [who were] convened to advise the Academy on the implementation of a comprehensive assessment as well as the analysis and dissemination of results." Ok, so far so good.
The page goes on to discuss the various activities that contributed to the initial research for this initiative, including "self assessment by city agencies", and "expert roundtables [on issues of] Business, Housing Development, Civic Engagement, Transportation, Tenant Rights, Social Services, and Health". It doesn't sound like older adults were part of these roundtables; maybe that is because they were targeted in other components of the study such as Community Forums and Seniors Focus Groups. Personally, I am troubled by what sounds like a separation between the consulting experts and the individual's with personal experience and expertise with the issues being discussed.
Maybe you are not so worried about community engagement; I just came out of a seminar on this topic and am feeling particularly passionate about the importance of meaningful public participation in policy and planning.
In spite of my concerns, there is an impressive report of the findings of New York's Age-Friendly City study which restores my confidence in New York's age-friendly initiative. From the looks of the early pages, this report is everything that city's age-friendly website leaves to be desired. The research is detailed and relevant, there is meaningful inclusion of older adult contributions, the photography is lovely. While New York's age-friendly city website seemed to understate the importance of older adult contributions to the research, this report makes very clear that this work was undertaken with commitment to the voices of New York's older adults. The methodology section (p. 6) provides comprehensive information about the research that took place and its various components. A Limitations section (p. 9) also provides an earnest description of excluded populations of older adults and mention of areas for future research. There is also reference made to a Technical Report which apparently includes a more detailed rendering of the project's quantitative findings.
There are several other additional documents which further build the credibility of this project. These include:
- Awesome data maps which you can take a look at here;
- Literature reviews on several of the core themes of urban aging;
- Private Sector Response document highlighting critical findings and the ways in which private sector plans to take action and work toward solutions, and;
- A page with links to international documents such as the original World Health Organization report and pieces of interest.
UN launches new scheme to make cities friendlier to eldery
I can't decide whether this is offensive or just really creepy. Anything that makes older adults sound like voiceless babies should be an issue for all of us.
Yes, public discourse around the theme urban aging is emerging, but I am worried about the lack of critical analysis, and a lack of visible engagement mechanisms, in the reporting and development of the age-friendly city movement. Of course improving cities to make them more accessible and inhabitable for our communities, young and old alike, is a very good thing. Indeed this will be necessary in order to accommodate the demographic transition of baby boomers getting older. Still, I hesitate to applaud words that have not yet been followed by meaningful action...
Yes, public discourse around the theme urban aging is emerging, but I am worried about the lack of critical analysis, and a lack of visible engagement mechanisms, in the reporting and development of the age-friendly city movement. Of course improving cities to make them more accessible and inhabitable for our communities, young and old alike, is a very good thing. Indeed this will be necessary in order to accommodate the demographic transition of baby boomers getting older. Still, I hesitate to applaud words that have not yet been followed by meaningful action...
Japan's biggest challenge: its aging population
For a short, informative article from Foreign Affairs online, about the economics of Japan's aging population, click here.
Check this out too:
Check this out too:
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Welcome
The goal of this blog is to consider cities and how they can support life, especially life as time passes and the needs of our society change.
I am a young professional who works in the field of aging research. My BA was in Sociology at University of Chicago and my MSc in Ecological Economics from University of Edinburgh. While gerontology and the field of 'aging' or 'life course' are relatively new to me, community well-being and development has always been an area of personal interest.
I currently live in Toronto, however I have also spent considerable amounts of time in Chicago, Paris, Montreal, Edinburgh, and London. If you know about other cities, have an idea for a posting, want to share an interesting resource, or simply want to voice questions or concerns, please post a comment!
As a high school debater, I was taught that you should never start talking about anything without first defining your terms. I chose the blog name Cities for Life because it was affirmative and concise. Though I am very interested in the "age-friendly cities" movement, I don't want to limit this discussion to the criteria that have already been laid out by the World Health Organization and other bodies reporting on aging in the urban sphere. I also object to the "age-friendly cities" terminology because claiming "friendliness" implies a separation (if still a friendly one) between the city and the life within it. My point is precisely the opposite: we must treat cities and life together as they are integrated and their futures and well-beings are inter-connected.
I am a young professional who works in the field of aging research. My BA was in Sociology at University of Chicago and my MSc in Ecological Economics from University of Edinburgh. While gerontology and the field of 'aging' or 'life course' are relatively new to me, community well-being and development has always been an area of personal interest.
I currently live in Toronto, however I have also spent considerable amounts of time in Chicago, Paris, Montreal, Edinburgh, and London. If you know about other cities, have an idea for a posting, want to share an interesting resource, or simply want to voice questions or concerns, please post a comment!
As a high school debater, I was taught that you should never start talking about anything without first defining your terms. I chose the blog name Cities for Life because it was affirmative and concise. Though I am very interested in the "age-friendly cities" movement, I don't want to limit this discussion to the criteria that have already been laid out by the World Health Organization and other bodies reporting on aging in the urban sphere. I also object to the "age-friendly cities" terminology because claiming "friendliness" implies a separation (if still a friendly one) between the city and the life within it. My point is precisely the opposite: we must treat cities and life together as they are integrated and their futures and well-beings are inter-connected.
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