Nitobe Memorial Garden
Connected Aging: Older Adults and Information and Communication Technologies
This project is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant (PI: Laura Hurd; Co-I’s: Drs Erica Bennett and Ben Mortenson) (2022-2024). The project is examining older adults’ use (and non-use) of ICTs and how that contributes to their experiences of social connection and/or isolation and loneliness. We are conducting in-depth interviews with individuals aged 65+ who have a wide range of usage of the technologies and who are from diverse backgrounds.
LGBTQ Older Adults: Media Portrayals and Everyday Experiences
Funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant (PI: Laura Hurd) (2017-2023), this study has two different yet related parts. To begin, we are investigating how aging lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer, and other gender and sexual minority (LGTBQ+) persons are depicted in the news media using content, thematic, and critical discourse analyses. Secondly, we conducted in-depth interviews with 30 older LGBTQ+ adults about their experiences of growing older.
An Intersectional Analysis of Assistive Technology Access and Utilization Across Cultural Groups
Although the research indicates that access to assistive technologies (AT) are vital for many older adults’ social inclusion and health and well-being, little attention has been paid to the use of AT among visible minority Canadians. This study is investigating how intersections of age, culture, race, language, ability, and immigration combine to delimit some older adults’ access to and use of assistive technologies. The project is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant (2019-2023) and the Principal Investigator is Dr. Ben Mortenson.