Session 5A: Practice and Ethics
1st Global Conference
Friday 3rd July – Saturday 5th July 2009
Mansfield College, Oxford
Together For Tomorrow: Building Community through Intergenerational Dialogue and Action
James V. Gambone
School of Public Service, Capella University, USA
Over the last seventeen years, I have created and developed a civic engagement process that brings together all living generations in community, organizational, religious and corporate settings. These intentional, intergenerational gatherings and dialogue/conversations are organized to help break down generational isolation and separation, solve problems, or capitalize on opportunities across 5 generations.
The Intergenerational Dialogue and Action ModelTM has been the research subject of a successful Ph.D. dissertation, a Doctor of Divinity, and an MA comprehensive paper. Each of these independent examinations has shown the Intergenerational Dialogue & Action process to be an effective best practice.
In addition, over 3,000 people across the United States of America have been trained to organize and implement this process. The range of issues for which the Dialogue has already been used includes: healing from natural disasters, homeland security, rural economic development, prevention of domestic and child abuse, school shootings, an ageing society, entitlements, generational knowledge transfer, mentoring, bridging racial and cultural divides, and immigration to name just a few dialogue topics. There are very few issues that are not enriched by a robust intergenerational conversation. (Training is available through the website below.)
This paper provides a clear understanding of the unique gifts and assets each of our living generations brings to any issue or opportunity. The reader will also learn compelling reasons for bringing all generations together to problem solve and build assets in a healthier and more equitable aging society. And finally, this paper will demonstrate the interdisciplinary foundations of the process, (from the perspective of sociology, history, education, community organizing, psychology and anthropology) describe how the process works, and provide practical examples of real Dialogue outcomes.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Longevity meets Brain Wellness: Where, What & How
Roger Anunsen
mindRAMP, West Coast Principal, Portland, OR, USA
One of the most alarming challenges in this age of extended human longevity is the aging brain. In a race against time, researchers around the globe are collaborating in what many consider the :Golden Age of Neuroscience” where cognitive decline is no longer considered inevitable. Tomorrow’s health care strategies for older adults offer pioneering visions that will integrate findings from the new frontier of the neuroscience of aging. Harnessing today’s cascade of evidence-based research can provide leaders with compelling arguments for sustainable, cost-efficient changes that can result in comprehensive brain wellness benefits.
A coalition of leaders in sub-fields within neuroscience and aging, linked through mindRAMP & Associates, propose a presentation that will add three enhancements to the suggested theme of Health and illness across generations: who takes care of whom, and when?: WHERE? WHAT? HOW?
mindRAMP has gathered and will present convincing proof that neuroscience research will become especially valuable and effective when provided within a multi-disciplinary approach. This new knowledge will leverage “mindful” designs of built environments WHERE older adults live with cognitive intervention therapies that guide WHAT they do with and HOW they spend their hours, days and years over their life-course.
• Where = Brain Healthy Built Environments.
• What = Sustainable, comprehensive cognitive intervention programs.
• How = Empowering elders, their families and caregivers with current
brain health knowledge and therapy techniques.
In sum, the application and integration of current neuroscience findings into the lives of elders can create a positive tipping point by offering every edge, every advantage, every opportunity to successfully age. This presentation will include speakers who will offer a rich multimedia exploration and defense of current, scientific-based built environments, brain healthy nutrition programs, cognitive intervention programs and therapies for older adults.
Growing Up and Growing Old: Negotiating the Generational Shift in Midlife
Bethany Morgan
Department of Sociology, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Midlife is a transitional phase in the life course which sees a shift in generational positioning, that is the loss and increasing agedness of the generation above and changes in the lives of the generation below. Midlife is often partially characterised by the death of parents and other older relatives, children reaching adulthood and leaving the familial home and can also be signified by changes in seniority and respect in the workplace.
This paper is based on a series of psycho-social interviews with 22 men and women aged between 39 and 58 years old. It explores the psychological effect the movement of the generations has on those in midlife, how people feel about becoming the next older generation and how this impacts upon their own sense of ageing and own mortality awareness. It pays particular attention to how people in midlife negotiate relationships with their parents and how the emotional and practical changes which occur with their parents’ increased agedness and deaths are managed. It looks at how anxieties about ageing are evoked and how psychological defences are triggered as a response to the upward shift of the generations.
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