Study on aging reveals first findings
Data will be used to plan for the needs of growing population of older Canadians
The Niagara Age-Friendly Network in partnership with the Pelham Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, recently hosted a region wide
The more than 150 participants included seniors, representatives from senior advisory committees, elected officials and senior service providers.
The presentations covered a range of important subjects: updates on housing strategies, age-friendly community projects across the province, Niagara regional housing options, CMHC research on senior housing and the work of the Niagara AgeFriendly Network.
“The community forum provided an opportunity to learn about lifespan aging based on findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and explore issues of social inclusion affecting older adults, based on hearing varied perspectives on affordable housing options,” says Dominic Ventresca, co-chair of the age-friendly leadership council. “In addition, the Age-Friendly Niagara Network sought opinions of participants on how to sustain the community’s efforts in the long term toward an agefriendly community for all ages.”
In this article I would like to highlight the keynote address at the forum, on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, given by Dr. Parminder of McMaster University’s Institute For Research on Aging.
McMaster has identified research into aging as a lead priority in anticipation of the diverse and growing needs of an aging population.
This very important research will study, over the next 20 years, 50,000 Canadians age 45 to 85 as they age.
The study reached an important milestone last spring when it released its first report on health and aging in Canada. The report presents key findings on a range of physical, mental and social aspects of aging based on information provided by participants.
The study to date tells us that: 95 per cent of participants rate their own mental health as excellent, very good or good.
Woman are more likely than men to express feelings of loneliness and social isolation, and that there is a link between feelings of loneliness and depression among old Canadians.
44 per cent of report they provide some level of care to others, and caregiving is most frequent (49 per cent) among individuals 55 to 64.
Almost 90 per cent of participants age 45 to 85 rated their general health as good, very good or excellent.
The study considers other areas that affect our lives — like lifestyle and behaviour, giving and receiving care, retirement, physical function, disabilities and falls, lesbian, gay and bisexual aging and transportation and mobility.
The study was conceived with the vision of generating new knowledge in order to better understand why some people are healthy and others are not. Through this study, researchers are learning more about the health and well-being of older Canadians, as well as the challenges they face when it comes to being a caregiver, social isolation and loneliness.
I believe this study has the right people asking the right questions that will provide the answers that will lead to a better understanding of aging, and more evidenced based information to plan for the needs of a growing older Canadian population.
Closer to home, I want to acknowledge that Brock University’s Centre for Lifespan Development Research is studying growth across the lifespan.
Brock has more than 60 researchers working on these initiatives and they have appointed a senior advisory committee to help identify research that will help improve quality of life for older adults.
The researchers also plan to present the outcomes of their research at public forums — watch for the dates.
We are fortune to have Brock University and Niagara College supporting research and programs that benefit our growing older population.
It was recently announced that Niagara College has become the first college in Canada to be designated as a member of the AgeFriendly University (AFU) Global Network.
“We are proud to endorse the AFU’s core principles which will enable us to build our support for older adults in our community as we collaborate with other institutions around the world,” stated Niagara College president Dan Patterson.
“Research is creating new knowledge” — Neil Armstrong
Special to The St. Catharines Standard