Aging will eventually affect all of us, so why don’t we care enough about it? This was a question of focus at the University of Toronto Conference on the Aging Population, a collaborative undergraduate initiative that aimed to create a comprehensive picture of the issues surrounding aging in present-day society by bridging the biomedical and social science research on the topic. The conference was a joint venture put forth by the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Student Union (LMPSU) and the Health Studies Students’ Union.
LMPSU co-president Darren Benedict shared his experience planning the conference. His reasons for choosing the topic in question include the fact that “[t]he aging population is something we don’t talk about enough even though it is important and relevant and has economic and social implications.”Benedict suggests the matter is one of “ethical judgement, and what we value as a society”.
The conference ran from January 17-18 at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, beginning with a Keynote address by Dr. Lynn McDonald, director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging at U of T. McDonald defined some key terms and statistics, suggesting that population aging is pervasive and enduring, and that the populations of developing countries are aging the fastest. Biological aging will affect virtually every aspect of society, including family, education, work, business and government; therefore, it is crucial to know how Canadian society deals with challenges posed by the older population. McDonald also highlighted the challenges facing older citizens. “Some [older] people are thrown in garbage cans…while they’re still alive,” she told a clearly disturbed audience.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that, in 2013, the global population of individuals over the age of 60 totalled 841 million; by 2050, this number is projected to increase to two billion. Given this, it is important that healthcare institutions prepare themselves to address the needs of the aging population. Dr. McDonald’s suggestions for such preparation include aiming to ensure that everyday services do not exclude older citizens; this would involve organizing commercial, public health, and social services to facilitate their use by older individuals.
The Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations (OCSCO) delivered a presentation following McDonald’s address. OCSCO executive director Elizabeth Macnab outlined various factors that affect the older population,including income, affordability, employment, education, access to information, health care, language and culture, and transportation, among others. Macnab identified many solutions to cultural and systemic contributing factors to ageism. Macnab suggested many policy improvements, such as the imposition of a new provincial ombudsperson for seniors. She also suggested an addressing the shortage of gerontologists and and facilitating access to our healthcare system.
