The Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) is holding its 52nd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting (CAG2023) in Toronto from October 26-28, 2023.

The theme of the 2023 conference is “Community Engaged Teaching, Research & Practice.”

As part of CAG2023, a symposium, “Innovative Research Using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging: Emerging Scholars in the Spotlight,” will showcase CLSA research being undertaken by trainees. The session will be chaired by Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomson of the University of Toronto. Dr. Lauren Griffith of McMaster University will be the discussant. The symposium includes the following presentations:

• Volunteering among CLSA participants: Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (Eireann O’Dea, Andrew Wister, Lun Li, Sarah Canham, Barbara Mitchell)
• Depression during the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Older Adults with Stroke History: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (Andie MacNeil, Grace Li, Ishnaa Gulati, Aneisha Taunque, Ying Jiang, Margaret deGroh, Esme Fuller-Thomson)
• Exploring the Relationship between Social Isolation and Cognitive Change in the CLSA: The Mediating Role of Physical Activity (Shawna Hopper, Andrew V Wister, Theodore D. Cosco, John R. Best)
• Exploring pathways between early-life adversity and later asthma among older adults using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (Keri J. West, Lin Fang, Eleanor Pullenayegum, Esme Fuller-Thomson)
• The association between trajectories of marital status and successful aging varies by sex: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) (Mabel Ho, Eleanor Pullenayegum, David Burnes, Esme Fuller-Thomson)

Dr. Mélanie Lavasseur, CLSA site co-principal investigator at the Université de Sherbrooke, is also the discussant for a symposium entitled, “Social isolation and participation in older adults: Experiences from Canada, Germany & Spain.” As part of the symposium, she will give a presentation, Typology of social participation and network and self-rated health in older adults: Results from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (Mélanie Levasseur, Véronique Deslauriers).

In addition to the symposiums, more than a dozen poster and oral presentations that focus on CLSA findings will be presented at the conference. Read the full outline of CLSA research at CAG2023 here.