It was a day spent learning about aging vibrantly.
The inaugural Vibrant Aging Conference was held at the Bonnyville Seniors’ Drop-In Centre on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Over 140 attendees packed into the facility to learn about subjects ranging from ageism to relationships to travel tips and more, all geared towards the 50-plus age group.
The Bonnyville and District FCSS hosted the event in partnership with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the seniors’ centre.
“It’s never been done before,” noted Diahann Polege-Aulotte, FCSS community programmer. “We’re all aging, let’s have fun with it, and don’t be shy about it.”
Keynote speaker Patricia Morgan, a speaker and author with a background in psychology, kicked the day off with her talk about “getting over getting older.”
She covered a number of different points, including staying healthy.
“Take care of this vintage body like a 1965 Corvette convertible,” she expressed. “You want to take it maybe a little slower, but you’ve got to keep it in tune and you’ve got to get it out on the road and try to keep it purring. We need a little more pampering when we’re older, same with a car, a little more pampering to keep ourselves in good shape.”
Ensuring your mind is still sharp was another important tip Morgan offered.
“Keep it active, keep it learning, and keep it flexible. Learning another language or musical instrument is a good way to stretch the brain,” she said.
According to Morgan, seniors who back off from socialization have a 35 per cent higher at risk for developing dementia.
“We as older people have much experience, many of us have become wise, but many of us still have some beliefs that don’t serve us very well. I tell young people not to just trust people because they’re older and not to just assume they’re wise just because they’re older. Wisdom takes work, so if you’re a smart person aging you will still work on your wisdom and that’s working on yourself.”
A major component for Morgan was encouraging the audience to ‘lighten up’ when it comes to aging.
“The biggest joke on the planet might be how serious we take ourselves. One of the easiest ways to lighten up is to merely smile,” she said.
Morgan’s presentation resonated with Vivian Bryant, who was attending on behalf of the Lakeland Senior Games Association.
“We’re supporting aging gracefully, or actively. An active senior is a healthy senior, whether it’s active in the mind or active in the body… It all comes together and makes for a healthy senior,” she explained.
Attendees also had the opportunity to learn more about cannabis, its uses, and where it stands a year after legalization. Representatives from the local RCMP and AHS outlined the laws and potential uses of the drug.
Bonnyville RCMP Cst. Walt Sidorenko explained the differences between medical and recreational use and the quantities allowed.
“You can possess 150-grams of dried cannabis for medical reasons, or 30 times the daily quantity, which is a prescription. It’s whichever one is less,” he explained.
For Bim Bowers, member of the conference organizing committee, believes there’s still a lot that people didn’t know about cannabis.
“I think we’re not as aware of stuff as we should be. I don’t think the information is out there, and I think the federal government jumped on the bandwagon really quickly but that’s usually how stuff works.”
Ageism was another subject covered during the conference. Speaker Diane Stonehocker, who works with Age Friendly Cold Lake, stressed the importance of addressing and dismantling negative information.
“It’s the only “ism” left in our society that’s about all of us as we get older,” she detailed. “We’re headed toward the thing that we’re afraid of. Racism doesn’t affect all of us, sexism only affects 50 per cent of us at anytime because you’re either against men or women. But, ageism affects all of us if we’re lucky enough to get older.”
A person’s own beliefs that medical problems are due to aging could have harmful impacts on someone, Stonehocker said.
“Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies in our culture, the assumption that aging means decline and poor health is probably the deadliest because as you slide into that design, and that kind of negative feeling that often comes as you get older, it’s deadly,” she exclaimed.
Due to the wide age range of seniors that would be attending, a lot of time was spent during the planning process to ensure the topics would interest everyone in attendance.
“We wanted to try to target younger seniors, say around 50, and also the 80-year-olds that would come,” detailed Bowers. “To try and get a good balance, and I think we did very good with our speakers.”
Attendee Lilianne Romanuk agreed.
“I can’t wait for the next one. I didn’t want this one to end, and I’m anxious for another one,” she exclaimed.
Polege-Aulotte said the plan is to alternate hosting Vibrant Aging with the Women’s Conference, meaning it will be back for a second event in 2021.
