Sixty papers looking at a myriad of issues related to ageing will be up for discussion at a gathering of about 200 delegates including PhD students on Tuesday, November 8.
Grandparents raising grandchildren, baby boomer career women, aged care facilities and the pros and cons of staying in the workforce will be among topics at the fourth National Conference for Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA 2005).
The one-day event at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is an initiative of the Australasian Centre on Ageing (ACA) at The University of Queensland.
The theme is diversity – of approaches to the study of ageing, and of older people facing rural, urban and multicultural issues in Australia and overseas. Speakers represent fields of study such as anthropology, medicine, nursing, social work, sociology, psychology, business, management and law.
Service providers, practitioners and policy makers will benefit from the emerging research, according to ACA Director Professor Helen Bartlett.
“The quality and diversity of this new research can be used to inform policy decisions about the future of our population,” she said.
“Participating postgraduates will also benefit from the opportunity to boost their presentation skills in a supportive environment, while opening their minds to new ideas.”
University Chancellor Sir Llewellyn Edwards will join Professor Bartlett in welcoming delegates and Professor Hal Kendig, National Convener of the ARC-NHMRC Research Network on Ageing Well, will present the keynote address.
Individual sessions include the following.
The Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment: the prevalence of cognitive impairment and other health conditions in Indigenous Australians, by Kate Smith, University of Western Australia
Residential care for older persons in China: perceptions of life and care in homes for the aged in China, by Liu Hong, University of Hong Kong
“Fat” bodies and “old” bodies: how people of different ages deal with the threat or reality of a stigmatised body, by Mair Underwood, The University of Queensland
Maori and positive ageing: gathering evidence at the interface between gerontology and Te Ao Maori, by Will Edwards, Massey University, New Zealand
Grandparents raising their grandchildren: the space between myth and reality, by Jan Backhouse, Southern Cross University
Why I keep walking: a focus group study of elders’ experiences of walking, by Kevin Mulrain, The University of Queensland
Skills for independent living: measuring social competence in patients with a diagnosis of dementia, by Donna Pinsker, The University of Queensland
Successful ageing of Australian baby boomer career women: the psychosocial processes in constructing quality of life judgments, by Lyn Courtney, James Cook University
Retirement incomes policy in Australia: the moral and philosophical implications, by Myra Hamilton, University of Sydney
Older workers: do they want to continue working? by Kate Shacklock, Griffith University
Home as a prison: the impact of a non-violent crime on older women, by Sarah Walters-Puttick, Univesity of Auckland
How not to retain the best mature workers: the High Court’s approach in Koehler v Cerebos, by Rachel van Witsen, Griffith University
For more information, contact Professor Helen Bartlett (telephone 07 3346 9080, email h.bartlett@uq.edu.au). For the ERA 2005 program, visit www.uq.edu.au/aca and follow the links.
