June 1, 2017
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Edition 14 Volume 6
In The News
2017 Elder Planning Issues Conference – Victoria, BC
Did you know that June is Seniors’ Month in Canada
President Tom Miller Has Been Busy Preparing for Seniors’ Month
Mobile Phone Apps Improve Blood Sugar Levels
More 2016 Census News to Make Your Day
McMaster Gets $15 Million for Aging Research
Nutrition for an 80 Year Old
9th Edition EPC Materials
Did you Know that CIEPS/EPC is on LinkedIN
CIEPS is Looking for Articles for the PULSE
Please Keep Your Contact Information Current
CIEPS Member Benefits
Alberta EPC Chapter Information
Vancouver EPC Chapter Information
Important Notice Regarding Your EPC Membership Dues
CE Requirements When Renewing Your EPC Designation
EPC Membership Renewal Reminder
Contact Us

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www.epcmember.org / From all of us at CIEPS, we wish you a very safe
and enjoyable summer

2017 Elder Planning Issues Conferences (EPIC)
”Redefining Retirement and Relevance"
Providing more value for an Aging Consumer
If you haven’t registered for the October 1-3, 2017 Victoria, BC conference please do so as soon as possible…limited seats available
Are you interested in finding out more about our aging society and the impact it will have on our futures? If so, this is the conference you will want to attend.
View all the information here - 2017 EPIC
View the Niagara Falls agenda and overviews here - 2017 Victoria, BC EPIC Agenda
Register securely here - 2017 EPIC Registration
CE credits are available. View CE Credits here
REGISTER NOW
We need your support to ensure that this conference will be successful. Register now. You will not be charged until just before the conference.
Canadian Provinces celebrate Seniors’ month
June's blooming flowers and warm weather provide the perfect backdrop for honouring our older loved ones. This month, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut are all celebrating Seniors' Month with various activities and initiatives meant to highlight the extraordinary civic contributions of today's older adults. Last week, British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories also held an entire week devoted to seniors.
"The theme this year is 'Vibrant Seniors, Vibrant Communities.'"
Honouring loved ones
In the provinces and territories recognizing Seniors' Month and Seniors' Week in June, there's a lot being done to celebrate. Some organizations are providing complimentary hot meals to older individuals who would appreciate some extra help with food preparation, while others are offering exercise classes geared toward seniors who are interested in keeping physically active. In Ontario specifically, the theme for this year's celebration is "Vibrant Seniors, Vibrant Communities," so the province will be holding a series of events where seniors can engage in activities that capture their vibrant spirits.
An initiative of this size wouldn't be complete without a strong social media presence. Twitter is playing a large role in the sharing of unique campaigns and interesting ways for seniors to get involved. In Ontario, their @OntSeniors Twitter account will be posting one photo per business day, depicting seniors doing something active or fun. Everyone is invited to get involved in the social media campaign and post their own photos by tweeting @OntSeniors and using the hashtag #vibrantseniors. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the province has also created a social media campaign in honour of Seniors' Month called Ageless, meant to promote positive images of aging.
Over in the Northwest Territories, the NWT Seniors' Society will continue their week-long celebration with community barbecues, summer picnics and swimming events that bring together people of all ages to honour seniors. Everyone is invited to follow @NWTSeniors on Twitter for a schedule of activities and events.
President Tom Miller has been busy preparing for Senior month
With more and more people joining the ranks of seniors these days, there really can’t be enough information to share. And while the internet has gobs of resources, it can be like finding a needle in a haystack, so I have taken the time to scour the internet for you, so that you do not have to.
Although these resources are not Canadian specific, the ideas behind them can be used universally.
At CIEPS we’re dedicated to keeping you informed and connected with today’s seniors. That’s why I’d like to share with you a collection of some great resources that I have found.
I hope you find them useful and that you will consider sharing them with the seniors that you know.
We will also have these available on EPC Member only site for you to reference as needed.
The Boomer's Ultimate Guide to Adding Value to Your Home
9 of the Best Travel Destinations for Seniors and Retirees
Downsizing in Your Senior Years? Decluttering Tips for Seniors
Disaster Safety for People with Disabilities
Healthy Aging Into Your 80s and Beyond
Substance Abuse And Addiction In The Elderly
Caring for Elderly Parents: Managing Role-Reversal
Senior-Friendly Remodeling
Aging Parents And Children Should Talk About Finances
Signs It’s Time for Assisted Living: Identify Potential Warning Signs that It’s Time for a Move
Caretakers' Guide to Moving Seniors Into a Facility
Checklist: Pre-Planning Your Funeral or Memorial Service
Reasons for Cremation or Burial: Practical and Personal Considerations
Mobile phone apps improve blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes
Do mobile phone applications (apps) improve self-management in people with diabetes?
Text messages as well as computer- and web-based approaches can improve self-management in people with diabetes. Mobile phone apps that accept data and provide feedback to users have the potential to be more interactive, cheaper and more convenient than these methods. However, it is not clear how effective mobile phone apps may be for diabetes self-management.
What the researchers found
People with type 2 diabetes who used diabetes self-management apps reported a significant decrease in blood sugar (HbA1c) levels compared to people not using the apps. This was true across all 10 studies of people with type 2 diabetes, including nine different types of apps. There is some evidence that apps enhanced with feedback from a healthcare professional provide are more effective, and younger people (< age 55) may be more likely to benefit. No conclusions can be made about the effects for people with type 1 diabetes since the quality of evidence from these studies was very low.
Conclusion
Mobile phone apps for diabetes self-management help improve blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. The convenience, availability and low cost of such apps mean they are a good choice to add to standard diabetes self-management approaches.
More 2016 Census news to make your day…from an article found in the National Post online version May 29, 2017
Look to your left and look to your right, Canada. Get used to what you see. More grey hair, and more Canadians living in retirement.
Canada is slowly but surely becoming a nation of older people.
The demographic trends were confirmed Tuesday, as Statistics Canada released the latest batch of data from its 2011 census.
Back in 1971, eight per cent of us were 65 and older.
Last year, as the first wave of baby boomers reached the milestone, the proportion was 14.8 per cent. That’s nearly 5 million seniors (4,945,060, to be exact) out of 33.5 million Canadians.
There were 5,825 Canadians who have reached their 100th birthday — centenarians — and the number is projected to steadily rise to a whopping 78,300 in the next 50 years.
All the while — and here’s a surprise — there’s a mini-baby boom happening in this country. The population of children aged four and under increased 11 per cent between 2006 and 2011 — the highest growth rate for this age group since the late 1950s and early 1960s.
But make no mistake — even this development won’t stop the inevitable change to the face of Canada where, within two decades, it’s expected that 22.8 per cent of us will be 65 and older.
Consider this: In 1961, when the baby boom hit its peak, 34 per cent of the Canadian population was aged 14 and under. (School construction was the order of the day). By last year, that share dropped to 16.7 per cent.
Another way of looking at the change? In 1961, the median age in Canada was 26.3. By last year, it had risen to 40.6.
Finally, another set of numbers: After the First World War, in 1921, Canada was a young country in both its history and people. Only 4.8 per cent of the population was 65 and older, compared to 14.8 per cent last year.
Indeed, the statistics show that as baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) now enter their senior years, profound and often controversial questions are being raised about whether Canada is ready for the possible consequences to a declining labour force, and the increasing costs of the health care and pension systems.
Demographic experts and researchers who have studied aging populations internationally agree that Canada must now confront what lies ahead, although there is a lively debate over whether the aging population will, as some predict, lead to skyrocketing social program costs.
“I think some changes are going to be needed,” said Elaine Gallagher, director of the University of Victoria’s Centre on Aging. “But we have time to make those changes. It’s not a tsunami. It’s not going to happen overnight. It will happen slowly over the next 30 years and we’ve got time to plan for it, to adjust.”
She said the changes are both practical and necessary: building code changes to require reinforced walls behind the shower to build a handrail; wider doors for wheelchairs; better public transit for seniors; longer lights at crosswalks, where seniors on foot are increasingly falling; and enhanced homecare programs, including assistance to help seniors with their yard work and house-cleaning so they can stay in their homes.
“We really didn’t design cities for the elderly,” she said.
“We designed them for able-bodied people, 35-year-old engineers who bicycle to work. A good deal of retrofitting is going to be needed.”
The census results come just months after Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared that his government will make major “transformations” to prepare for the demographic changes that he said threaten this country’s economic future.
Census Highlights
• Number of seniors (age 65 and over) is nearly 5 million
• The number of seniors is at the highest rate ever in Canada
• The working-age population, aged 15-64, only grew by 5.7 per cent and account for 42 per cent of the total population
• The population of children under 14 only grew by 0.5 per cent
• The population of children under 4 increased a lot, by 11 per cent between 2006 and 2011
• The first baby boomers hit retirement age — 65 — in 2011
• The fastest-growing age group are 60-64 year-olds, at 29 per cent
• The second fastest-growing group are centenarians, those over 100.
• Saskatchewan had the highest fertility rate of all the provinces
• The working age population in Alberta encompasses 70 per cent of the overall population
• The oldest CAs — cities — are Parksville, B.C., Elliot Lake, Ont., and Cobourg, Ont
• Cities with the highest proportion of working age population are: Wood Buffalo, Alta., Yellowknife, Strathmore, Alta., and Whitehorse
• 5,825 Canadians are over 100 years old
• There are 500 women centenarians for every 100 men
• Saskatchewan has the highest rate of centenarians of all the provinces and territories
• The Calgary CMA has an equal gender split, 50-50
• Wood Buffalo, Alta., is the manliest town in Canada, with 54.4 per cent of the overall population
• Cobourg, Ont., is where the ladies are. It is the city under 100,000 with largest proportion of women, 53.6 per cent
• Nunavut is the youngest territory or province, with 32 per cent of the population under 14
• The median age in Canada in May 2011 was 40.6
• The number of children aged four and under increased for the first time in 50 years
• Nearly two-thirds of all teenagers live in central Canada
McMaster University gets $15 million for aging research to help keep seniors active
Keeping senior’s mobile and living in their own homes is the goal of a $15-million donation to McMaster University.
Chancellor Suzanne Labarge added to the $12 million she has already given Hamilton researchers to study aging as the baby boomers bring about a massive demographic shift in Canada.
"I thought if we don't tackle this problem now with the kind of aging demographics we've got, we're not going to be able to deal with the baby boomers," she told The Spectator. "Governments are now beginning to understand that if we don't figure out how to keep people in their homes they're not going to be able to afford the demands put upon them."
The Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging announced Wednesday at Queen's Park in Toronto will focus specifically on keeping seniors walking, driving and getting around their communities.