South Island Symposium on Ageing 5th Nov. 2011, at Otago Polytechnic

November 5th was marked in a somewhat different way: fireworks were verbal, rather than actual, in a successful symposium on issues related to older people. This one-day symposium was hosted by Otago Polytechnic, and led by Dr Linda Robertson of the Occupational Therapy Department and Beatrice Hale, independent researcher. It attracted an audience of thirty-four, [...]

Waikato Branch Update September 2011

Waikato Nutrition Seminars Sponsored by NZ Association of Gerontology (Waikato), NZ Nutrition Foundation and Waikato District Health Board Despite the cold, wet winter’s day, over 150 members and older people attended a free community seminar on 21 July, on “What you eat makes a Difference.” Kaye Dennison and Niki Russell (both dietitians) kept the folks [...]

South Island Symposium on Ageing

Saturday, 5th November, 9am – 4pm at Otago Polytechnic Topics addressed will include: early ageing earthquake impac carers quality indicators All are welcome. There will be a small cost to cover food.

Auckland Branch September 2011 Update

In March, at the first of the Auckland Branch’s meetings for 2011, Associate Professor Bruce MacDonald, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Professor Ngaire Kerse, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health (both at the University of Auckland), presented ‘Robots to help care for older people’. Healthbots is a [...]

Book Review – Professional Foodservice 2nd Edition

Professional Foodservice is a key resource for anyone needing information on a wide range of skill based and management activities within foodservices. It answers questions as diverse as “How many staff will I need?”, and “How do I plan a menu for residents with swallowing difficulties?”, to “How much raw meat will I need for 50 people?”, “What’s a good potato for salad?” and “What’s norovirus?”.

In this second edition of Professional Foodservice, authors Pip Duncan and Julian Jensen have…

How are older people in Christchurch doing?

Living and working in Christchurch over the last year has had its ups and downs. But when is a good time to pause and reflect on how older people are faring?

Some of us were starting to do this by the end of 2010, but then Boxing Day shook us all again. By mid-February, a group of local Christchurch researchers met to discuss how we might begin to make sense of our learnings since September…

Otago Branch Update December 2010

The Mobilities Symposium: Otago University

Beatrice and Linda were fortunate to be in a team funded by Building Research Capabilities in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) for a project to explore the social impact of exercise groups for older people using a participatory methodology. Three other projects from the university were also selected, with different methodologies, and the group ran a symposium to report the findings and to hear from others in NZ who are also interested in what is referred to as the ‘mobilities paradigm’. The following is a summary of our abstract

Growing Older in Africa and Asia – New Research

This multicentre study on ageing, health and well-being was published in a peer reviewed journal, Global Health Action, on 27 September 2010. This is an important study because for the first time the self-reported health status, functioning and well-being of older adults on these two continents has been investigated and compared. It addresses a critical [...]

Developing Aged Care and Intermediate Care Services in Taiwan: a visitor’s first impressions

It was a special privilege to be part of two meetings taking place in Taiwan recently, along with Prof Keith Hill from the Australian Association of Gerontology. We were there following the generous invitation of the newly formed Asia Pacific League of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics (APLCGG), and were able to attend the associated 2010 [...]

NZAG Student Representative

Following a call for nominations from around the country, the NZAG Executive is very pleased to announce Nadine Mesnage as the new NZAG student representative. Nadine’s primary areas of interest are understanding elders’ experiences of being in residential care settings and the influence of the environment on quality of life. Her strengths in organisational skills [...]