Freedom of R & R, or to Continue Working

Posted by suzanne  on Apr 12, 2017

Later life has changed

There is a realignment of work and retirement in society as the population ages. It is a growing trend. Older adults are continuing to work past traditional retirement age.

CBC’s The National followed a couple of Canadians as they reflected on their decision to keep working into their later years. They found work opportunities for their ‘next act’ that help generate an income and maintain their lifestyle. Furthermore, their work is personally fulfilling and meaningful to their community.

Benefits go beyond the paycheque; working keeps people active and engaged. It was also nice to hear another perspective on the benefits of hiring mature workers.

I coined the term redirection to refer to the new stage of career as people transition into new pursuits and occupation to stay engaged and continue to work. Redirection is an alternative to retirement. It is an exciting time of life. New possibilities are investigated and explored. Older adults discover that their skills and competencies are transferable. My new documentary film explores five people’s experiences with redirection.

CBC News discusses the trend towards delayed retirement. Provinces like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are already rethinking and implementing policy to address this new trend.

It is time to rethink government policy to consider the ways people are and can work longer and what this means for social structures and institutions in Canada.

Knowledge Sharing: Later Life Career

Posted by suzanne  on Dec 8, 2016

Redirection is an alternative to retirement. A large and growing proportion of older adults are choosing to work past what has traditionally been thought of as ‘retirement age’. This represents a significant shift in our society.

The Redirection Project examines this new and emerging social trend. Results of the research will be shared in January. First, a webinar will be held on January 12th, 2017. Sign up here. Second, there is a presentation at Cannexus17 in Ottawa on January 23rd. Sign up here.

The documentary film Redirection: Movers, Shakers and Shifters discusses these issues and portrays the stories of five adults who found second or third careers after age 50. The English and French trailers of the film are available. The documentary film is been screened through feature presentations around the country to great acclaim.

Redirection Project

Posted by suzanne  on Jan 26, 2016

More and more people are pursuing a longer working life. Redirection speaks to this rethinking of work and income options for later life.

I coined the term redirection to refer to the new stage of career as individuals transfer their skills, experience and knowledge in a new direction. By pursuing a new occupation, individuals are able to use some of their strengths while learning something new. This provides revitalization.

Northumberland County residents are invited to participate in the Magnet Redirection Project as part of the age-friendly initiative.

Attention Northumberland County Residents, please click here: Magnet Redirection Project.

The Redirection Project examines how Canadians in their 50s, 60s and beyond are turning away from traditional notions of ‘retirement’ to seek new employment. There is a radical change taking place with an expansion of our working lives and re-imagining of retirement as the baby boomers enter what has traditionally been viewed as their retirement years.

The Redirection Project is a CERIC-funded national research initiative. The project consists of a national survey (see below), success stories to help inspire others and a documentary film (see the story contest).
The research examines partipants’ experiences with later life work and career development as they shift gears and pursue new types of work.

If you are age 50 or over and seeking new employment (or have already found your new career), you are invited to participate in important research about this topic in order to help others in similar circumstances.

To participate, please click on one of the following links.
Redirected and working in a career
Seeking redirection and looking for a new occupation

The project has received great coverage in the Globe and Mail.

Recent York University YFile press: September 2015 and January 2016 articles.

Experienced

Posted by suzanne  on Apr 9, 2015

Mature individuals have a great deal to offer. Leveraging their experience, abilities and wisdom is critical in our aging society.

In Western society, there is a tendency to overlook mature and experienced workers. They do not receive the respect accorded to them in the past, or in other countries.

Recently, the New York Times published a lovely compendium of experienced masters - individuals who are at the top of their craft. These inspiring people, of mature age, continue to be highly productive older adults who are passionate about the work they do.

Over and above the meaning and purpose work offers for these individuals, their stories convey several key messages. First, their stories highlight their openness to learning and being present in the moment. These are qualities that need to be cultivated. Also evident is the importance of process and the honing of great works over time. Therefore, patience, dedication and self awareness are critical to becoming a master and developing seminal and socially meaningful work. In addition, they are very inspiring. Finally, I wonder if their age matters because it is their talent and their craft that stand out to me.

In any case, masters is a fitting description for them.

LEWIS H. LAPHAM (2014). Older masters at the top of their game, New York Times Magazine.

Intergenerational Education

Posted by suzanne  on Dec 9, 2014

Learning together in Sociology of Aging at York

What happens when lifelong learners are invited into spaces and places normally reserved for young learners? You get Intergenerational Education. This new and emerging type of education occurs when you mix passion, dynamic innovation and out of the box thinking and bring it all into the classroom. The results and the benefits are phenomenal.

Dr. Chris Alfano, my colleague in Kingston, teaches high school students and older adults in an intergenerational music program. The vibrancy of this classroom is incredible and it has been my pleasure to observe this class on more than one occasion. Chris and his music class received some much deserved attention for the incredible work they all do to bring music into people’s lives through intergenerational education. Great joy is created when they share what they have learned and bring music out into the community.

I teach Sociology of Aging at York University using an intergenerational education model. I have been thrilled to see this new trend catching on. Recently, I visited two intergenerational education class opportunities. This confirmed the rich learning potential for young and old alike.

Last week, I visited the University of Victoria to observe an interdisciplinary, intergenerational class as well as speak with the professors leading this course (The YUFA Teaching and Learning Development Grant that I received from York University facilitated my visit). The UVic students are enrolled in ‘Exploring Aging through Film’. What an inspired idea for an interdisciplinary university course that brings young and old together while strengthening links between research and teaching. This course is the brain child of Dr. Holly Tuokko and her colleagues. The support for this creative course, the vibrant learning environment and the high student interest were striking. It was wonderful to see the development of intergenerational education and how far it has progressed on the West Coast.

My colleague at York, Dr. Gary Turner, also incorporated intergenerational learning into his class for the first time two weeks ago. Again, everyone was pleased with the results and I have every expectation that he will do it again next year.

These classes use Experiential Education to engage students, both young and old. This model has rich potential.

There is a new brand of education emerging in the field and it demands that we pay close attention to it.

Volunteers Contribute

Posted by suzanne  on Nov 28, 2014

Volunteers have a highly valued role in society. Volunteer efforts are very important from coast, to coast, to coast. This is because they help keep communities, non-profit organizations and charities going.

Volunteering is a great way to stay active and also to contribute and give back to the community. It is socially and mentally stimulating and is good for aging well.

I am always pleased to hear about the ways that older adults volunteer in the community, especially the length of time they have been volunteers and the different volunteer roles they hold.

I recently wrote a short piece about volunteering that appears in the Fall/Winter edition of Revera Living Magazine. Please read it here.

Meaningful Work That Pays: Beyond Volunteerism

Posted by suzanne  on Mar 21, 2014

This week, I was invited to Peterborough by Hatch to speak to older adults in the community about later life empowerment through self renewal, challenging roles and community innovation during the New Retirement. My presentation was sponsored by CARP. This is some coverage in the local media about my presentation.

It was a fabulous evening: we had a great turnout and people stayed after my presentation for an hour-long Q & A session. We discussed ‘retirement’, volunteering and social enterprise. Hearing members of the audience’s views on this topic was interesting. Not all older adults want to volunteer; some want to do more. Moreover, some want to earn money for their extensive knowledge, skill and expertise. This indicates to me that there is a shift occurring within attitudes and expectations for ‘retirement’.

I engage groups and help them see opportunities – the opportunities of later life. In partnership with Hatch and Peterborough Economic Development Business Advisory Board, I am offering a workshop series for adults who are in the Third Age and are interested in starting a new enterprise – something that generates revenue and gives back to the community. Please contact me (on my contact page) or visit Hatch for further information.

Redirection: A New Life Stage

Posted by suzanne  on Mar 14, 2014

Life Redirection: Sometimes you just have to make a change

My scholarly article entitled Redirection was recently published in The Gerontologist. In this paper, I discuss the sociological and psychological process of later life career development as an individual enters a new career stage. To date, this has received little attention in the career development field.

Retirement is changing. There is great knowledge, skill and experience that older adults can transfer into new roles. I predict that organizations and communities will begin to recognize this.

The fact is that more people will reach this life stage as life expectancy continues to increase. More individuals will be looking for the next challenge.

What is your next challenge?

Ruth Dempsey from Aging Horizons Bulletin interviewed me about this paper. The interview is here.

Balance

Posted by suzanne  on Aug 15, 2013

Individuals are busy people. Life keeps people busy. Everyday while trying to fit in demands, responsibilities and obligations and going about life, individuals adjust their schedules, prioritize and re-prioritize.

Daily, it often seems, many have to hit stop and reset as the path of life takes unexpected turns. Plans become scrambled. Something requires our attention; sometimes it is completely unexpected, sometimes it is a request from a loved one. There is a realization that something needs to give and we need more time to accomplish what is most important or something highly critical needs some attention. But it requires that time and energies shift so we can devote more time to another area of life that has become a critical priority.

Individuals are always trying to re-balance during the journey of life. Change is constant. Individuals are always re-assessing, re-aligning and re-jigging. Thus, goes the dance of life, as we shift, spin and spiral towards one thing and away from another. The dance is constant, no matter what age or stage of life. Even in later life, the freedom to choose commitments and activities does not mean that the dance does not continue. We are always seeking to fine tune and adjust lives to fit in time: with friends, for ourselves, with a loved one and for work and productive activity. The dance of life that is required is never-ending and the most resilient of us endure with a sense of humour as we parcel out time.

It all comes down to time and managing our time to do what we most want to do, what we have to do and what is necessary. Somehow, time seems to move faster as we age.

Dear Readers – What are your impressions of time and the flow of time? What are your thoughts on the shifts and changes of balancing life?

Here’s to the ‘tick, tick, tick’ as we dance through life!

Today’s Image of Retirement

Posted by suzanne  on Jun 28, 2013

Many factors have impacted our image of retirement with the traditional age for retirement influencing expectations in particular. Age sixty-five looms large as a magical age for retirement and seniorhood. Yet, this was not always the case.

Retirement is a social construction. In the past, there was no retirement. There were few elderly people because it was rare for someone to reach old age.

When retirement was first conceived in 1883 by Chancellor Otto Von Bismark of Germany, western society was different. Perspectives were different. Sixty-five years of age was chosen for an individual to receive a pension; however, this was with the expectation that most individuals would never live long enough to actually retire and collect the pension.

A lot has changed. Older adults are healthier and life expectancy has increased significantly over the past 130 years.

Individuals want to remain active and engaged. It is no longer your grandmother’s or your grandfather’s retirement.