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Asynchronous Session
Canada, China, and the Health Work of Long Distance Family Caregiving: A Comparative Analysis of the Experiences of Immigrants and Citizens in One Canadian City
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mary Rita Holland, Yue Guo
Place-based responses to aging assume the availability of a) a safe home environment and b) human labour to support healthy aging in the home space. Such requirements are often met by the adult children of parents living in a city or country, far from the care recipient. While considerable scholarly attention has been directed at carers and their ‘burden’, providing assistance to a loved one living with chronic illness or disability, less has been devoted to the forms of health work long distance carers are involved in that ensures the home is maintained as a site of care. Such forms of health work go beyond administrative and emotional support and can include the maintenance of culture, family relationships, and memories - vital aspects of health that are invisible in neoliberal (Canada) and authoritarian (China) welfare states. Using surveys and semi-structured interviews with long distance family carers residing in Halifax, Canada while caring for a loved one in Canada or China, the paper responds to the question - What does family caring entail for long distance family carers and how are they supported? The research provides a comparative analysis of two distinct experiences of sociocultural norms, citizenship status, and caregiving responsibilities in order to determine how family carers can be better supported in managing their role.
Language Repertoire and Mental Health in the Elderly: Neurostructural And Neurosynaptic Substrata of an Alternative Approach to Language
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Abdurrahman Gülbeyaz, Memet Gülbeyaz
Our paper introduces and discusses the present state of an ongoing interdisciplinary research project designed to explore the nature of the link between language repertoire and cognitive functioning in elderly. By the early 1960s, a research paradigm emerged that dealt with the correlation between the phenomenon of bilingualism and cognition. Having gone through several stages marked by sharp controversy, this research stream produced a branching arm in the early 2000s that revisited the question of the interrelationship between the language situation and cognition in the context of global population ageing. Researchers asked themselves whether bilingualism has an influence on age-related dementia in elderly. Looking back on more than 80 years of research, we realize that a deep chasm of extreme dissonance degrades the entire field to an arid terrain: Some have found that the question of whether bilingualism has a positive effect on cognitive abilities and promotes cognitive and neural reserve must be answered in the affirmative, while others have found exactly the opposite. On the one hand, our contribution deals with the reasons for this lack of substantial results by demonstrating that this persistent failure can be traced back causally to two fundamental fallacies in the basic theoretical settings of the research paradigm. On the other hand, we present and discuss our alternative theoretical approach. In this context, we also present the first results of our clinical survey “language repertoire and mental health in the elderly”, which has been running for over a year.
Cross-Cultural Lessons in Age-Friendly Design: A Systematic Review of Eastern and Western Strategies View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Juanjuan "June" He
As global populations age at an unprecedented pace, culturally grounded and human-centered design strategies are urgently needed. This paper shares findings from a systematic review that investigates best practices in age-friendly design and policy across six countries: China, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping methodology, the study synthesizes 90+ sources to examine how diverse cultural, policy, and design traditions shape strategies for aging in place, caregiving models, housing, transportation, and community-based care. The analysis reveals both shared challenges and culturally specific approaches. While most older adults across these nations prefer to age in place, systemic barriers—such as unaffordable housing, caregiver shortages, and inaccessible transportation—persist. Cultural values like filial piety and intergenerational responsibility in East Asia, and innovations like social prescribing in Europe, offer rich comparative insight. The research proposes an Age-Friendly Design Strategy and Policy (AFDSP) framework that integrates preventive care, design education, and culturally responsive practices. Special attention is given to participatory and empathic design as pedagogical tools to reduce ageism and foster intergenerational solidarity. Drawing on my teaching experience and co-design work with immigrant older adults in Philadelphia, I share how design studios can serve as spaces of healing, inclusion, and innovation. This study invites dialogue on how educators, designers, and policymakers can collaboratively reimagine aging futures: rooted in care, respect, and culturally relevant design.
Featured The Emotional Cost of Institutionalization: Exploring Loneliness in Nursing Homes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session María Camacho García
Unwanted loneliness has become a critical social and public health issue in contemporary societies, particularly impacting older adults. This study explores how institutional living affects the experience of loneliness among elderly residents in public care facilities, considering loneliness as a key aspect of emotional well-being. Based on qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with 34 older adults living in three public residential centers in the province of Seville, the analysis focused on emotional ties, life trajectories, identity, health, and the institutional environment. The findings reveal that the residential care model plays a significant role in shaping emotional experiences, with loneliness being strongly associated with the loss of meaningful relationships, functional decline, detachment from familiar surroundings, and challenges in building a sense of belonging within institutional settings. The results highlight tess, he need to move toward person-centered models of care, emphasizing the importance of nurturing social bonds, recognizing individual identities, and tailoring care to promote a more humane and emotionally sustainable aging process.
