Homesharing program pairing Students with Seniors:

An Ontario based company is making intergenerational living normal in Canada. SpacesShared is a home sharing platform that matches students with Seniors who have empty bedrooms and the company says it’s been overwhelmed by requests. With affordable housing more elusive than ever, this program is not only a win for students, but it creates some income and connections for Seniors who face isolation in growing numbers. We reached SpacesShared co-founder and CEO Rylan Kinnon.

New Cars Zoomers Love to Drive:

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada has just named the 2024 car of the year. And the winner is: the Toyota Prius. And Toyota also claims other top spots. The awards were just handed out at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. Jil McIntosh has been writing about cars for years for various industry publications and she was also a judge at this year’s car show. We reached Jil to find out what older drivers want in a car.

How Canadians Are Enjoying Sex:

On Valentine’s day this week, Sociologist Tina Fetner released a book on Canadian sexual practices based on the first ever survey of what Canadian adults do in the bedroom and who they do it with. It’s called "Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North". And Libby started the conversation by asking how we are different from Americans.

Ageism in Politics:

This week a special counsel cleared U.S. President Joe biden of criminal wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents, But Robert Hur, who is associated with Donald Trump and has no neurological expertise, characterized the 81-year-old Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. By that point the President’s age was already a widely debated campaign issue. Is that partisan politics or ageism? Libby reached Larry Haas- a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, in Maryland.

The King's Cancer Diagnosis:

There’s been an outpouring of sympathy and support since King Charles III revealed that he’s been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. At the age of 75, he was finally putting his own stamp on the monarchy after ascending the throne in September 2022 following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth. Libby talked about the implications with Suzanne Boyd, Editor-in-chief and Publisher of Zoomer Magazine/everythingzoomer.com

Reforming our system of clinical trials for Cancer Patients

In recent years, there have been huge innovations in cancer treatment that target the disease with ever increasing precision. Clinical trials are often the best or the only treatment option for cancer patients. But surgical oncologist Dr. Rebecca Auer argues that they are outdated and need to be reimagined to help thousands of Canadians.

What a new report tells us about Cardiac Arrest

A new report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation finds that this potentially fatal event occurring outside a hospital is far more prevalent than we thought. Cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos tells us simple training could save lives.

Are you exercising right after the age of 50? 

 

Are you still sticking to your New year’s exercise resolution? And are you working out the right way? Author and personal trainer Igor Klibanov specializes in training people over 50 and as the title of his bestseller says: Stop Exercising! The Way You Are doing it Now”

Michael Levy's brother is still being held by Hamas. He shares his story:

Like so many around the world, and specifically Israel, just mention October 7th and the nightmare of that day replays in their minds many times each day. Michael Levy's brother was taken hostage by the terrorist group while attending the Nova Music Festival and his sister-in-law was murdered. He shares his story.

How accurate are the five love languages?

It’s been 30-plus years since a series of books titled The Five Love Languages came out. Not to help someone fall in love but to keep a relationship fresh and growing amid conflicts, demands, and just plain boredom of everyday life.

Dr. Emily Impett, a University of Toronto Mississauga psychology professor and her team of researchers were curious cupids who decided to check out the concept.

January 21 2024-National Non-Smoking Week & Ontario Launches New LTC Investigations Unit

National Non-Smoking Week

Quick quiz: What’s the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Canada? If you said tobacco then you’re right. With 46-thousand dying from it each year and National Non-Smoking Week upon us, Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society looks at how far we’ve come and also how much more we’ve got to go.

Ontario Launches a New Long-Term Care Investigations Unit

The province now has a team of 10 investigators designated as Provincial Offences Officers who have the authority to add more accountability in long-term care with the aim to help address the most serious forms of non-compliance.

Will these 10 make a difference? Jane Meadus is a lawyer at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.

Blue Monday and research about Seasonal Affective Disorder

Blue Monday has officially been called the most depressing day of the year. It was dreamed up to help advertisers cash in on everything from travel to gym memberships. But the broader Seasonal Affective Disorder is when the post holiday lull, stretched finances, and poor weather with less daylight all converge. We reached Laura Cavanagh Professor of Behavioural Sciences at Seneca College and a registered psychotherapist.

CARP's Survey shows Zoomers are hungry for travel

Travel bug got you planning a big trip? You’re not alone. A just-released survey by the Zoomer Advocacy group CARP finds a whopping 86 percent of older Canadians plan to book an international flight within the year marking a return to the first ‘normal’ travel season in three years. Rudy Buttignol, President of the Zoomer Advocacy group CARP joined us in the studio to break it all down.

David Macdonald On Canada's highest-paid CEOs

Almost 15 million dollars. That’s how much 100 of Canada’s top CEOs were paid in 2022--an all time high. And it's more than double what the top executives were paid in 2008. Compare that to the typical Canadian worker who got an average three per cent raise to just over 60 thousand a year. By comparison, the top CEOs made that in 8 hours. So, at a time when the average Canadian is facing food inflation and housing affordability, why do Canada’s richest keep getting richer? We reached David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, who released a report this week.

Professor Jim Davies On Best Strategies to Keep Our New Year Resolutions:

We’ve just said goodbye to 2023 and are a few days into 2024. Do you plan to make changes this year? Experts agree that New Year’s resolutions usually fail because they’re too big of a goal. So the best advice is start small. In fact, one study finds 9 in 10 Americans fail at resolutions. We reached Jim Davies, a cognitive science professor at Carleton University, for some do’s and don'ts when it comes to resolutions.

Erika Buckman: Unveiling a Beatles' Secret: Erika Buckman reveals a surprising and bittersweet connection: her late daughter, Caroline Buckman unknowingly played a part in this last melody from the legendary Fab Four. With this revelation, Buckman shares a unique perspective on the song's significance and her daughter's unintended legacy.

Dr. Allison Crawford: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis: Amidst the pandemic, while suicide rates remained stable, crisis lines experienced a surge in calls from individuals grappling with heightened stress. In response, Canada introduces a comprehensive, around-the-clock, three-digit suicide prevention hotline, 9-8-8. Dr. Allison Crawford, Chief Medical Officer at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, joins Bob Komsic to discuss this critical initiative and its potential impact on mental health support in the country.

Brain Canada researchers along with ones from the world renowned Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel are teaming up to better understand the brain and its disorders. One-and-a-half million dollars will support up to three team grants of half-a-million each over two-years.

Professor Rony Paz of the Weizmann Institute from Israel and Brain Canada’s President and CEO Dr. Viviane Poupon’s in Montreal joins Bob Komsic to discuss.

AND

How old is too old for one to be driving? The province is considering introducing an enhanced road test for those over 80. Currently, drivers have to renew their licence every two years after reaching that milestone. The renewal process involves attending a senior driver education session that involves a vision test and having to draw a clock which measures cognitive abilities. It does NOT examine motor function and co-ordination, concentration, hearing ability, spatial perception, and reaction time.

Ministry of transportation research in 2020 showed more than one-third of drivers older than 80 who passed the clock-drawing test could not pass a road test. The recommendation is for the introduction, by 2026, of an enhanced road test that could combine driving manoeuvres of a standard highway test with additional scoring to gauge cognitive abilities related to safe driving.

The Zoomers’ advocacy group CARP and its chief policy and operating officer Bill VanGorder thinks the province should reconsider.