Aging & Social Change Research Network

The COVID-19 pandemic sets the stage for a gigantic epidemiological, economic, social, and cultural global experiment under which we face a rise of ageism around the world. With mortality risks by COVID-19 being unequally distributed by chronological age, public policies to control the spread of the virus and its consequences for individuals and societies are often focusing on this and apply ageist language and practice, e.g., when defining risk groups or allocating resources. The pandemic and related policies pave the way for an exacerbation of negative stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination towards people because of their age, or at least their social relevance, and have the potential to outlast the health crisis. At the same time, active aging goals, norms, and expectations prevail and create tensions of various kinds, e.g., in late work or elder care with effects for participation/autonomy, well-being, exclusion, and (in)equality. The Aging and Social Change: Tenth Interdisciplinary Conference invites discussion on ageism in times of pandemic from the overall perspective of aging and social change.

Welcome Address

Andreas Motel-Klingebiel, Research Network Chair and Professor, Ageing and Later Life, Department for Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Plenary Sessions

Ageism & COVID-19: Lessons for the Future

Liat Ayalon, Professor and Deputy Director, School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Israel

All in This Together? Reducing Inequalities toward a Decade of Healthy Ageing*

Norah Keating, Director, Global Social Issues on Ageing, International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics; Professor of Rural Ageing, Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, UK; Co-director, Research on Aging, Policies and Practice, University of Alberta, Canada; Extraordinary Professor, Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, South Africa

We are pleased to offer the following live sessions to conference delegates:

Live Plenary Session with Norah Keating
25 September, 7:45 AM US PST / 9:45 AM US CST / 14:45 GMT

Virtual Talking Circle Sessions
25 September, 6:00 AM US CST / 20:00 Japan

10 September, 15:00 US CST/16:00 US EST
Click to Access (Meeting ID: 956 2488 6421 / Password: Aging)

EuroAgeism Panel Presentations
Session 1 - Theorising Tomorrow: Ageism and Older Workers
25 September, 7:00 AM US CST / 14:00 CET

Session 2 - Frailty, Social Care, and Engagement among Older Adults
25 September, 8:30 AM US CST / 15:30 CET

For each conference, a small number of Emerging Scholar Awards are given to outstanding graduate students and emerging scholars who have an active academic interest in the conference area. The Award, with its accompanying responsibilities provides a strong professional development opportunity for early career academics. The 2020 Emerging Scholar Awardees are listed below.

• Irtiqua Ali, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
• Sarah Assaad, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Fathin Hanani, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
• Jonathan Lai, University of Alberta, Canada
• Samantha Oostlander, University of Ottawa, Canada
• Gemma Wells, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom

The Aging & Social Change Research Network is grateful for the foundational contributions, ongoing support, and continued service of the following world-class scholars and practitioners:

• Edgar Barens, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
• Julie Chang, College of Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA
• Jill Chonody, Boise State University, USA
• Helen Correia, School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia
• Shannon Doherty Lyons, New York University School of Medicine, USA
• Peter Graf, Memory and Cognition Laboratory and the Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Amanda Grenier, Department of Health Aging and Society and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging, McMaster University, Canada
• Ronald A. Harris, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA
• Lisa A. Hollis-Sawyer, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, USA
• Dan Kayama, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan
• Pauline Lane, Anglia Ruskin University, UK
• David Morris, University of Central Lancashire, UK
• Yuko Nozaki, Yasuda Women's University, Japan
• Aoife Prendergast, Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, Ireland
• Matthew Sorenson, Texas A&M University, USA
• Hiromi Wantanabe, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan
• Kieran Walsh, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and the National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
• Perla Werner, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
• Sharon Wray, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK
• Daniel Velez Ortiz, Michigan State University, USA

We are pleased to announce the following EuroAgeism panel presentation sessions.

Session 1 - Theorising Tomorrow: Ageism and Older Workers

25 September (7:00-8:00 AM US CST / 14:00-15:00 CET)

Chairperson: Hanna Kosonen, Tampere University, Finland

Job Loss and Ageism: Agentic Practices in Career Decisions after Redundancy

Katri Keskinen, Tampere University, Finland

Ageism in Age Management Practices in Contemporary Eastern Europe

Maria Varlamova, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Older Workers: Fragile – During the Pandemic - or Knowledgeable – Before the Pandemic: Insights on Discursive Resources to Negotiate Age inside Organisations

Federica Previtali, Tampere University, Finland

Session 2 - Frailty, Social Care, and Engagement among Older Adults

25 September (8:30-9:30 AM US CST / 15:30-16:30 CET)

Chairperson: Angela Kydd, Robert Gordon University, United Kingdom

Frailty and Ageism among Older Adults: A Systematic Literature Review

Abodunrin Aminu, Robert Gordon University, United Kingdom

“It’s Pure Panic”: The Portrayal of Residential Care in American Newspapers during COVID-19

Laura Allen, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Portrayal of Older Adults in Chinese Social Media during COVID-19

Wanyu Xi, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Wenqian Xu, Linköping University, Sweden

Public Policy and Public Perspectives on Aging

Current and Future Needs of Gerontological Social Work Practice in Alberta: Findings from the World Café at the Gerontological Symposium in Edmonton

Kathaleen Quinn, Assistant Professor, Social Work, MacEwan School of Social Work, Alberta, Canada

Older Adults’ and Family Carers’ Engagement in Democratic Governance in the Context of Health Care System and Government Change

Andrea Rounce, University of Manitoba, Canada

Danielle Cherpako, Graduate student , Department of Political Studies, University of Manitoba, Canada

Laura Funk, Associate Professor, Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba, Canada

Ageing-in-place and Informal Care during COVID-19: The Importance of the Neighbourhood

Wesley Gruijthuijsen, KU Leuven Primary PhD Researcher, Earth and Environmental Sciences - Division of Geography & Tourism, KU Leuven, Belgium

Jakob D'herde, PhD Student, Department of Architecture, KU Leuven, Belgium

Veerle Draulans, Tilburg University, Netherlands

Dominique Vanneste, Professor of Geography and Tourism, KU Leuven, Belgium

Medical Perspectives on Aging, Health, Wellness

Impacts of Obesity on Health and Wellbeing of Older Adults in England

Gargi Ghosh, PhD Research Scholar, College of Nursing, Midwifery, and Healthcare, University of West London, London, United Kingdom

Immunosenescence in the Time of COVID: Age Related Immune Changes and Viral Infection

Matthew Sorenson, Professor, College of Nursing, Texas A&M University, Texas, United States

Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging

Third Age and Well-being: An Alternative Approach to Health Interventions

Gaizka Pérez, University of Deusto, Spain

Life Experiences of Elderly Living Alone in Delhi, India

Irtiqua Ali, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India

Inclusive Aging-in-place Organizations as Capstones for Intergenerational Communities: The Ten-year-old Successful Establishment of At Home In Darien - a 3,500-member Organization in Darien, Connecticut

Peter F. Eder, Founding Board Member, At Home In Darien, United States

Imagine a Future without Ageism: Creativity and Curiosity to Reimagine Aging

Erin Partridge, Art Therapy, Notre Dame de Namur, United States

How COVID-19 Challenged Connectedness among Staff, Family Caregivers, and Residents in North American Nursing Homes: Reflections on Stories in a Co-created Ethnography

Charlotte Lee, Assistant Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Canada

Lori Schindel Martin, Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Canada

Margaret Oldfield, Social Scientist, Disability Scholar, Canada

Digitization of Aging-in-place: An International Policy Comparison of the Role of New Technologies

Alexander Peine, Assistant Professor, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Eugene Loos, Associate Professor, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Daniel Lopez Gomez, Associate Professor, Open University of Catalonia, Spain

Stephen Katz, Professor Emeritus, Trent University, Canada

Nicole Dalmer, Postdoctoral Fellow, McMaster University, Canada

Barb Marshall, Professor, Sociology, Trent University, Canada

The Self-determination Continuum: Motivators Influencing Technology Use Among Older Adults

Katherine Anthony, PhD Student, School of Education and Gerontology, Iowa State University, United States

A Holistic Approach to Interactive Activities for Older Adults

Madeline Ryan Smith, Master of Arts in Social Science, Child Development Center, Georgia Southern University, United States

Informal Networks versus Retirement Savings in the United States

Joelle Saad Lessler, Associate Industry Professor, School of Business, Stevens Institute of Technology, United States

Karen Richman, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, United States

Dementia as Necropolitics: Vulnerability Theory for an Ageing World

Hamish Robertson, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Aging Societies: Extended Working Lives and Discrimination Against Older Workers

Understanding the Multidimensional Factors Associated with Post-retirement Work: In-depth Analysis of the Chilean Case

Milda Galkute, Research Assistant, Department of Sociology, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile

The Risks of Workplace Ageism for an Ageing Labour Force

Jonathan Lai, Graduate Student, Human Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

New Ageism in Times of Pandemic: Tensions between Active Aging and Risk-Group Definitions

Does the Covid-19 Pandemic Encourage Ageism?: Should Age Matter in Allocation of Scarce Resources?

Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Professor, Philosophy, Brown University, Rhode Island, United States

Dena Davis, Professor, Religion Studies, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, United States

Posters

Rethinking ‘Vulnerability Approach’ in an Ageing Society: Focus on Safeguarding Law against Elder Abuse

Yukio Sakurai, PhD student, Graduate School of International Social Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan

Aging While Parenting a Child with an Intellectual Disability

Carla Reyna, Masters Student, California State University, Long Beach, California, United States

Molly Ranney, Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator, School of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach, California, United States

Covid-19 Safety Measures: Obstacles to Successful Aging?

Theresa Heidinger, Researcher, Gerontolgy, Karl Landsteiner University, Austria

Differences in Health Information Seeking Behaviour between Estonian Students and Elderly People

Marianne Paimre, PhD Student/Lecturer, School of Information Technology, Tallinn University, Harjumaa, Estonia

Failing Health and Social Care in the UK: Austerity, Neoliberal Ideology, and Precarity

Bethany Adela Joanna Simmonds, Senior Lecturer, School of Education and Sociology, The University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Development of Pedaling for Health: A Social Exercise Program

Alexis Lopez, Student, Occupational Therapy, Stanbridge University, California, United States

Sydney Hoang, Student, Master's of Science in Occupational Therapy, Stanbridge University, California, United States

Audrey Jenkins, Student, Occupational Therapy Student, Stanbridge University, California, United States

Madison Wright, Student, MSOT, Stanbridge University, California, United States

The Development of a Successful Aging Scale: What Attributes are Important to Older People?

Barbra Teater, Professor of Social Work, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, United States

Jill Chonody, Associate Professor, Social Work, Boise State University, Idaho, United States

Vaccination vs. Healthy Ageing: The Role of Scientific Knowledge Channels in the Increasingly Positive Preferences for Vaccines among Elderly People

Izabela Warwas, Head of the Department of Labour and Social Policy, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, Poland

Included in conference registration is the opportunity to submit to The Journal of Aging and Social Change. Click the blue button below to learn more and submit your paper.

The Journal of Aging and Social Change is an international journal for aging research. It features articles on the dynamic interplay between aging and society, exploring advances in social and behavioral science on aging, life-course and social change, involving (but not limited to) gerontology, sociology, demography, psychology, economics, communication science, education, epidemiology, public health, biology, nursing and medicine. The Journal of Aging and Social Change is devoted to multi- and interdisciplinary research that centers around social and behavioral science as well as to disciplinary approaches that are compatible and advantageous beyond merely discipline-specific discourses.