Launched in 2017, the Stephen Katz Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Interdisciplinary Aging Studies Program honours the celebrated career of critical aging studies visionary and founding member of the Trent Centre for Aging & Society (TCAS), Dr. Katz has been described as one of the leading thinkers in the gerontology field and is internationally renowned for his significant theoretical and methodological contributions to the global sociology of aging.
THE RIGHT TO A MEANINGFUL OLD AGE: HOW INTEGRATING ARTS AND CULTURE INTO HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES CAN TRANSFORM AGING
Dr. Anne Basting
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Monday, November 6th, 2023
- 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., short reception with refreshments to follow.
Room 411, Bata Library Fourth Floor
Lecture Abstract
The arts and culture sector is a rich resource for bringing people together, inviting wonder and awe, and inspiring learning and skill-building. All of these have been shown to have significant benefits for health and quality of life. Yet the arts and culture sector is rarely included in efforts to build age-friendly or dementia-friendly communities. Basting shares stories of her work over 2 decades to do just that - bring meaning-making techniques into daily care relationships and to aging and health systems as a whole. These include infusing "Beautiful Questions" into meal delivery and senior companion programs, transforming stigmatized nursing homes into cultural centers, and creating student artists in residence programs where arts students receive room and board for a year to live as a neighbour to elders. A video of Dr. Basting's research can be found here: https://vimeo.com/390075096
About Dr. Anne Basting
Dr. Anne Basting is a writer, artist and advocate for the power of creativity to transform our lives. She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Founder of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.org, which trains, inspires, and supports caregivers to infuse creativity into care. Her writing and large-scale public performances have helped shape an international movement to extend creative and meaningful expression from childhood, where it is expected, through to late life, where it has been too long withheld.
Her books include Creative Care: A Revolutionary Approach to Elder and Dementia Care (Harper), Penelope: An Arts-based Odyssey to Transform Eldercare (U of Iowa) and Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia (Johns Hopkins).
Internationally recognized for her speaking and her innovative work, Anne is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and numerous major awards and grants. She believes that creative engagement can and should be infused into every aging care system and has trained/consulted with Meals on Wheels, libraries, home care companies, senior centers, memory cafes, museums, adult day programs, and every level of long-term care.
For more information, contact aging@trentu.ca.