Conference 2019

Moving Our Profession Forward: From Loneliness into Connection

Featuring Dr. Kristine Theurer, Conference Keynote Speaker


Saturday, November 2, 2019

8:00 am – 8:30 am – Registration

8:30 am – 5:00 pm – Conference

HSA New Westminster, 180 E Columbia St, New Westminster

Solving Social Isolation and Loneliness

“Inside every lonely adult is a kid eating lunch by herself on a bench.” The Globe and Mail writes that loneliness is a looming crisis. Social isolation and loneliness are linked, and loneliness is as lethal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is linked with depression, suicide, cancer, and dementia and not only impacts all populations that we work with, but also our own lives. In residential senior care settings, studies indicate one out of two report feeling lonely, despite our best efforts and social calendars filled with programs. But there is hope. A growing body of research documents the effectiveness of peer support and peer mentoring in community services however this approach is rare within residential senior care. Dr. Kristine Theurer will describe an innovative peer support and peer mentoring model, along with evaluations of its implementation in organizations within Canada and the US. The session format will include a program demonstration, video and interactive discussions, along with implementation processes and research results. Attendees will leave with a takeaway strategy on how to engage themselves and those they work with in peer support and peer mentoring to help address these critical issues.

Bio:
Kristine Theurer, PhD, MTA
Dr. Kristine Theurer is a researcher who pioneered the use of standardized peer support and peer mentoring programs to address loneliness and social isolation in senior living. She is a published author of a number of research articles, the most recent of which The Need for a Social Revolution in Residential Care is the most downloaded article in the Journal of Aging Studies. Kristine has completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia, leads training workshops for staff working in health care in Canada and the US and presents regularly at international conferences. She has received numerous research awards including grants from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She serves on the planning committee for the national conference on culture change in Canada, hosted by the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.

To view the final conference program click here.




Conference rates (lunch included on conference day) Early Bird Rate till Oct. 19 Registration after Oct. 20
MTABC member (MTA, Associate, MTA R/I, MTA Grad, Friend) $81 $97
MTABC student/Intern member $48 $75
Non-MTABC member $106 $123
Non-MTABC member student $59 $86

*These prices include the Eventbrite processing fees
*Refund requests will be accepted only until October 26, 2019.



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For further information, please contact

Brittany Robart, MTA
MTABC Conference Chair
[email protected]

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