Coming of Age: Meeting the needs of our aging population

How will Canadians balance their caregiving duties with their jobs? As the first of the baby boomers soon turn 80, we expect a growing number of employees in workplaces across Canada with caregiving responsibilities. 

In this episode, Donna Duncan is joined by a panel of experts discussing elder caregiving and the modern workplace. Listen as they explore the growing trends and implications for employers and for Canadians balancing caring for their elderly loved ones with careers and workplace commitments. As more Canadians find themselves navigating caregiving responsibilities, let’s discuss workplace and societal strategies.

Episode guests:

·   Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, Conference Board of Canada

·   Nora Spinks, Work-Life Harmony Enterprises and seniors’ and family thought-leader

·       Allison Williams, Social Geographer at McMaster University and Research Lead of the Canadian Institute for Health Research/Social Science Humanities Health Research, Healthy Productive Work Partnership Grant

Resources:

·   Conference Board of Canada Reports

o   The time to fix long-term care is now (2020)

o   Sizing up the challenge: Meeting the demand for long-term care in Canada (2017)

·   Resources for employers:

o   Caregiver Friendly Workplace by McMaster University

o   Carer-friendly workplaces, inclusive and accommodating employment practices by Carers Canada

·       Research

o   Balancing Flexibility and Administrative Burden: Experiences of Family Managers Using Directly Funded Home Care in Manitoba, Canada

o   Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on carer-employees’ well-being: a twelve-country comparison

Thanks for listening to Season 3! Join us next week for a new episode. Subscribe to Coming of Age to catch each new episode as soon as it’s released.

What sage advice for seniors’ care can we learn from others around the world? The cultural frameworks in which we live, work and age guide how we innovate – as governments, communities, and care providers. Stepping out of our own culture and systems, and exploring others, can open our eyes in ways we never expected.

In this episode, Donna Duncan is joined by Judy Martin, Australian aged care industry leader, Executive Lead for the SAGE Study Tours program and Senior Executive at ANCHOR Excellence. Judy has led 45 educational tours in over 15 countries to learn how they innovate and care for their elderly populations.

Resources:

·   SAGE, which stands for Studying and Advancing Global Eldercare, is a recognized aged care and retirement living study tour program. Visit SAGEtours.com to learn more and get involved.

·   Global Ageing Network

·   Australia Intergenerational Report 

Thanks for listening to Season 3! Join us next week for a new episode. Subscribe to Coming of Age to catch each new episode as soon as it’s released. 

This episode was generously sponsored by our Sector Champion, PointClickCare.

Are we psychologically prepared as a society for aging? More and more we are seeing a fear of elderhood and avoidance to talking about its realities. This fuels a cycle of bias that we can change – through healthy discussion and proper support.  

In this episode, Donna Duncan is joined by Dr. Sonu Gaind, a psychiatrist, professor and mental health advocate. Dr. Gaind is the Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, a hospital renowned for its work in mental health research and care. Together, they explore how fear, hope and acceptance are connected in maintaining mental wellbeing as we get older, along with the tools and systems needed to support us all in aging well. 

Resources and extra reading mentioned this episode: 

·       Learn more about Dr. Gaind’s work: https://www.drsonugaind.com/  

·       Learn about positive aging and psychiatry: https://fountainofhealth.ca/  

·       Watch the Japanese film Plan 75 about an imagined dystopian future of a “super-aged society” 

·       Read the book, Anxiety and the Gift of Imagination by Dr. Robin Alter 

·   Read the Surgeon General Advisory on the impact of loneliness and isolation in the United States 

Thanks for listening to Season 3! Join us next week for a new episode. Subscribe to Coming of Age to catch each new episode as soon as it’s released. 

This episode was generously sponsored by our Sector Champion, Plan A powered by StaffStat.

How do we learn about and prepare for the natural course of a progressive illness? For patients and their loved ones, the journey includes both hope and grief. A palliative care approach can help us all better understand what to expect and set out realistic goals.

In this episode, Donna Duncan is joined by Dr. Samantha (Sammy) Winemaker, a Canadian palliative care physician and co-author with Dr. Hsien Seow of Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest. Their work is inspiring a movement to help those receiving care, their caregivers, and healthcare providers to feel prepared and informed through the journey of a life-changing illness. 

Resources:

• Get the book: Hope for the best, plan for the rest
• Learn more about Dr. Winemaker’s work: www.waitingroomrevolution.com

Thanks for listening to Season 3! Join us next week for a new episode. Subscribe to Coming of Age to catch each new episode as soon as it’s released.

This episode was generously sponsored by our Sector Champion, Arjo.

Why do we make assumptions about people based on their age? Each person is unique, and their age doesn't tell us anything other than how long they've been on the planet.

“Age doesn't tell you what they value. It doesn't tell you what their ideology is. It doesn't tell you about their abilities. Nothing.”

In this episode, Donna Duncan is joined by Tracey Gendron, a gerontologist, activist, and author of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It. Based out of the Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States, her research led her down a path to explore the roots of ageism, finding glimmers of hope along the way.

Resources:

• Get the book: Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It
• Learn more about Tracey Gendron: https://www.traceygendron.com/

Thanks for listening to Season 3! Join us next week for a new episode. Subscribe to Coming of Age to catch each new episode as soon as it’s released.

This episode was generously sponsored by our Sector Champion, PointClickCare.

As baby boomers age, a significant demographic shift is underway. By 2040, the population over 80 will double. But here’s the thing, our perceptions of aging and innovations for seniors’ care have not kept pace.

Let’s change the conversation.

Join us for Season 3 of Coming of Age: Meeting the needs of our aging population, coming this September. Subscribe now.

In this episode, Donna is joined by Ashton Applewhite, an anti-ageism advocate, speaker and the author of “This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism” and the blog “Yo, Is this Ageist?” Ashton is a writer, an activist, and an internationally recognized expert on ageism who was recently named one of “50 leaders around transforming the world into a better place to grow old” by the Decade of Healthy Ageing platform, a collaboration between the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Ashton has become a leading spokesperson for raising awareness of ageism in society, and how we can all work together to dismantle it. Together, Donna and Ashton discuss what ageism is and how it shows up in society and in our everyday lives. Ashton also shares her perspective on how ageism fuels inequities in healthcare and long-term care. Donna also asks Ashton to share her thoughts on healthy aging, and how internalized and structural ageism keep many of us from living long and aging well. Finally, Ashton provides suggestions for how we can all begin to address ageism and tackle our own personal blindspots, in addition to sharing her thoughts on how we can re-imagine long-term care and seniors’ care in order to best meet the needs of older adults.

Learn more about Ashton Applewhite and her work:

• https://thischairrocks.com/ 
• https://yoisthisageist.com/ 
• https://www.ted.com/speakers/ashton_applewhite

In this episode, Donna is joined by Brent Gingerich, Chairman and CEO of peopleCare Communities, who stepped up to serve as chair of our Board during the height of the pandemic. Highly regarded in the sector, Brent is known for exemplifying values-based leadership throughout the most difficult of times. Brent quite literally grew up in long-term care, in a family deeply committed to public service, and he shares his beliefs on how to create great places for seniors to live, and meaningful places for people to work. He and other leaders across seniors’ care are moving ahead with new innovations to improve the lives of the people in their care, and the lives of their team members. They are leading the changes that we need to see, and the future of seniors’ care will look very different thanks to their efforts.

Learn more about Brent Gingerich and peopleCare Communities:

• https://peoplecare.ca/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gingerich/?originalSubdomain=ca

As women access seniors care in Ontario and other jurisdictions around the world, many of them are still frequently encountering gendered ageism and other healthcare inequities. In this episode, Donna discusses this issue with Dr. Paula Rochon, a Senior Scientist and Founder of Women’s Age Lab at Women’s College Hospital and Professor at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Paul Higgs, a sociologist and professor of aging at University College London. During their conversation, they focus on the unique health and wellbeing needs of older women, and the health inequities many of them face today. Paula shares more about the work she and her team is doing at the Women’s Age Lab here in Canada, and Paul provides more information on some of the current innovations in seniors care happening in the U.K. In addition, both guests share their perspectives on ageism in society more generally, including its harmful effects on older women, and gendered ageism in relation to long-term care homes.

Learn more about Dr. Paula Rochon and the Women’s Age Lab:

• https://www.womensresearch.ca/womens-age-lab/ 
• https://www.womensresearch.ca/scientists/core-faculty/paula-rochon 

Learn more about Dr. Paul Higgs:

• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/people/paul-higgs#:~:text=Paul%20Higgs%20is%20professor%20of,and%20community'%20(2005)

In Ontario alone, the population of people over the age of 85 is set to double over the next 12 years. Currently, there are more than 40,000 people on the waitlist for long-term care in Ontario, while the system is facing significant staffing shortages. It’s time we develop new strategies for meeting the needs of our aging population. In this episode, Donna is joined by John Yip, the president and CEO of SE Health, a large home and community care organization that serves people in Canada and abroad. John brings an extraordinary skill set as a consultant, operator, leader and innovator in our healthcare system, and he has a fascinating perspective to share on how we are going to respond to the challenges our system is facing as the baby boomer generation continues to age. During the episode, John shares his thoughts about how we can strategize to meet the needs of this aging demographic, the benefits of taking a population-based approach and most importantly, how we can begin to think differently about the ways we deliver care. 

Learn more about John Yip: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnyip/?originalSubdomain=ca