By: Peter Young, MSc student
I joined the APHL in September and had the pleasure of attending the 2021 Canadian Association on Gerontology conference. What follows are my key takeaways from a couple of sessions I attended.
One common theme from the conference, and one near and dear to my heart, was the importance of exercise for older populations. Researcher Dr. Marie-Josée Sirois presented data illuminating the importance of physical activity in older adults after hospitalization. The time older adults spent immobilized increased by ~12 hours/day upon admittance to the hospital or emergency department. This mandated “bed rest” proves counterproductive to recovery, as older adult patients experience loss of muscle mass and strength, especially during longer hospital stays. Older adults become frailer in the hospital and have an increased risk of falls and readmission when discharged. This vicious cycle continues to turn, with older adults losing independence and quality of life along the way.
Dr. Sirois and colleagues presented how exercise early after hospital discharge can intervene in this vicious cycle. Their results showed the efficacy of performing 1 hour of physical activity (focus on strength, balance, and aerobic conditioning) 3 times a week in reducing the declines in function and mobility of older adults. Interestingly, medical professionals were found to be slow to adopt exercise prescriptions, likely due to fear of perceived danger. With that said, even unsupervised/at-home exercise was shown to be safe and mitigate the risk of falls. Physical activity will not be possible for all older adults who are discharged from the hospital. Still, for those who have the capacity, exercise may prove to be a vital treatment for recovery and to mitigate mobility loss.
Another theme that emerged from many presentations was empowering the autonomy of older adults within research. Involving “older adult community partners” recognizes their valuable knowledge and has numerous benefits:
Older adult community partners experience feelings of empowerment, autonomy, and purpose as they contribute to research development.
Older adults contain the essential knowledge acquired through experience that can guide research in ensuring its relevance.
By co-creating knowledge with older adults, they can become spokespeople to share the findings of the research.
I will leave you with a compelling statement provided by Dr. Janna Klostermann who encourages researchers to “ask beautiful questions”. Within the research context, Janna refers to questions that inspire wonderment and creativity within interviews with older adults. This can break away from the often sterile environment created by science and make the act of co-creating knowledge one of joy. Thus, I encourage you to think about how you can ask beautiful questions. Perhaps we can implement beautiful questions in our own lives to invigorate conversations and interactions with those around us.