Healthy Aging CORE Research Spotlight: February

Research Spotlight

The Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence supports and empowers caregivers and care providers, advances the knowledge and capacity of the caregiving field, and advocates for effective and visionary social policy, with a disability-informed approach. The Centre works with the federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as with organizations and caregivers, to affect change, amplify work that is underway and provide support where needed. You can read about the results from their National Caregivers Survey here.

New Research Reports on CORE

• Perspectives on Growing Older in Canada: The 2023 NIA Ageing in Canada Survey (Natalie Iciaszczyk, Keith Neuman, Alyssa Brierley, Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, Samir Sinha)
• Canadian Guidelines for the the Assessment and Treatment of Anxiety in Older Adults (Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health)

New Journal Articles

Articles that require a paid subscription. If you are a student or alumni of a college or university you may be able to access these through your institution’s library.

Watson, B., Das, A., Maguire, S., Fleet, G., & Punamiya, A. (2024). The little intervention that could: creative aging implies healthy aging among Canadian seniors. Aging & mental health, 28(2), 307–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2023.2246416

In this randomized controlled trial, 130 older adults were randomly assigned to a creative ageing program, with the remaining 122 serving as the control. The creative ageing intervention consisted of weekly 2-h art sessions (i.e. drawing, painting, collage, clay-work, performance, sculpting, and mixed media), taking place from January 2020 until April 2021. For the intervention group, statistically significant improvements were observed for loneliness, mental health, and well-being measures, though physical health measures generally did not show statistically significant changes. Older adults who participated more frequently or had lower levels of well-being tended to experience the most benefits.

Hutchinson, S. L., & Ausman, C. (2024). Not Just One Long Vacation: Revisiting the Importance of Lifestyle Planning in the Transition to Retirement. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 1–13. doi:10.1017/S0714980823000788

This survey of 748 Canadians who were retired or partially retired explored respondents' retirement preparedness and experiences. In the survey results both financial and lifestyle planning were predictors of higher perceived retirement preparedness, but only lifestyle planning was a significant predictor for retirement satisfaction. In open-ended feedback, respondents highlighted the importance of meaningful activities and social connections in retirement.

Calls for Abstracts for Upcoming Conferences

Gerontological Society of America

Mark your calendars for the upcoming GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting (Nov.13-16), where you can actively participate and shape the future of gerontology. The theme for GSA 2024 in Seattle is the Fortitude Factor. The online Abstract Submission Site open from Feb.1 – Mar.14, 2024.

Canadian Association on Gerontology

 The Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) is pleased to announce a Call for Abstracts for CAG2024, our 53rd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting. The meeting will be held October 24-26, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at the Delta Hotels Edmonton South Conference Centre. Abstracts are due April 15, 2024.