Latest News

The Future is Old! Why investment in ageing pays off

The Roundstone Colloquium Seminar Series "Unfolding Ideas" presents: The Future is Old! Why investment in ageing pays off which will be delivered by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology on November 11th at 1pm at Folding Landscapes, end of Quayside, Roundstone, Co. Galway. Bus departs for Roundstone from the Quadrangle, NUI Galway at 11.30am. This seminar is free and all are welcome to attend.

R.S.V.P to icsg@nuigalway.ie or call 091 495461



National Report to Highlight Role of Migrant Carers in the Care of Older People

Friday, 25 September, 2009: Ireland’s older population are being cared for in large numbers by one of the most marginalised groups within the labour force, migrant workers.  That is according to a report by NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Gerontology, launched today by the Minister for Older People, Aine Brady T.D.

 

The Role of Migrant Care Workers in Ageing Societies research report examines the role of registered nurses and care assistants from other countries in caring for older people in Ireland. This group now account for one in three of the Irish older adult care workforce, which is twice the proportion of foreign carers in the general health care sector.  

 

Written by Dr Kieran Walsh and Professor Eamon O’Shea from the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at NUI Galway, the research confirms the important and highly valued role of migrant workers in the care of older people, both in home and long-stay residential care settings. However, the report also highlights a number of issues associated with migrant care provision for older people in Ireland. These include: communication, language proficiency, cultural understanding, education and training, discrimination and inadequate regulation. Read the Executive Summary or the full report here.

The role of migrant care workers in ageing societies is an international collaborative research project, involving Ireland, the UK, Canada and the US. To download the UK report and executive summary, click here. To view the Canadian national report click here.

 

ICSG Leads Cross-border Research Network on Rural Ageing

NUI Galway has been announced among the recipients of the Research Grants Programme by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development (CARDI). The CARDI programme aims to promote north-south research partnerships that bring together different subject areas to look at issues affecting older people in new ways. The research will involve older people themselves and the findings will be designed to improve policies and services for them.

The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at NUI Galway, with Queen's University Belfast, the School of Geography at NUI Galway, Rural Community Network and FORUM will establish a cross-border research network to explore healthy ageing in rural communities. The network, entitled Healthy Ageing in Rural Communities (HARC), will draw on interdisciplinary expertise in the areas of gerontology, economics, spatial planning, rural geography, social care and public health.

Professor Bob Stout, Queen's University Belfast, Co-chair of the grants panel, said: “CARDI's wish is to get all the partners together and stimulate research that will bring benefits to the daily lives of older people”.

The Healthy Ageing in Rural Communities research network will commence in September 2009 and will run to the following year.

Speaking about the grant award, Kieran Walsh, Research Officer at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, NUI Galway, said: “Although there is an over representation of older people in rural areas throughout Ireland, research into rural ageing has been limited to small-scale studies with a total absence of any cross-border coordination. HARC will allow us to share existing knowledge, identify key research questions for future study, and ultimately increase the capacity for rural ageing research in the fields of ageing and rurality across Ireland”.

HARC is a part of a broader research programme on rural ageing at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology. Focussing on the economics of ageing, technology and ageing, and rural ageing, the multidisciplinary research centre has been awarded more than € 5 million in funding since its establishment in 2006.

The CARDI Grants Programme Call 2 is now open.

The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) is delighted to open Call 2 of its grants programme. It is inviting applications for grants to fund cross-border and inter-disciplinary research or to create networks of academics with the public, private and voluntary sectors to examine issues arising out of an ageing society in Ireland, north and south.

CARDI will be allocating €300,000 in Call 2, which closes on 2nd October 2009.

In Call 2 the research grants have been increased to €25,000 and network grants will be funded up to a limit of €10,000. It is a precondition that applications must be both cross-border and inter-disciplinary.

More information about the grants, terms of reference, including an application form, can be accessed on www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme or email info@cardi.ie

Say No to Ageism Week

As part of ‘Say No to Ageism week’, the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) is organizing two events. ICSG is hosting a seminar entitled “An Age-friendly Society in a time of Recession”. The seminar speaker is Niall Crowley, former CEO of the Equality Authority. The talk will take place in the Moore Institute at 1pm on Tuesday, the 19^th May. All are welcome.

The Equality Office here at NUI, Galway in conjunction with the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology have organized an AgeWise workshop, run by trainers from Age & Opportunity, which aims to provide information on older people and ageing in Ireland and challenge myths and stereotypes about ageing and older people. This workshop takes place on Thursday May 21^st in the Moore Institute.  To register for this free event, please contact Brenda Fallon by email on brenda.fallon@nuigalway.ie

Volunteering of older persons and the role of public policies Conference

The conference took place on the 11th March in the European Commission in Brussels. This was the first European Commission event to focus specifically on the role of older volunteers in Europe and presentations were given by speakers from several European countries including the UK, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Norway, France and Slovenia on volunteering and public policy in their countries. There were also presentations on older volunteering European-wide and on the oppoetunities for co-operation and networking and exchange programmes for volunteers across Europe. Marian Harkin, the Irish Independent MEP spoke about the increasing recognition that the role of volunteering by older people is achieving at EU level. She announced that 2011 has been designated the EU Year of Volunteering and 2012 as the EU Year of Active Ageing.

The conference was attended by two members of the Ballinasloe Active Retirement Association - Jane Treacy and Douglas Rafter, by Paudge Connolly, Development Officer of the Irish Senior Citizen's Parliament, Evelyn Moran of the Galway Division of the Irish Senior Citizen's Parliament and Aine Ni Leime, of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology.

CARDI - Ageing Research Programme

CARDI – Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland are holding an information session with regard to CALL 1 of their Ageing Research Programme. This session will be hosted by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology Friday February 6^th at 1.30pm in the Moore Institute Seminar Room at the National University of Ireland Galway.

For further information on the grant programme please see link: www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme

 

Irish Health Economists to meet at NUI Galway

The Health Economics Association of Ireland, set up in 2001 to foster the sharing of information related to health economics, will have its next symposium and meeting at NUI Galway on February 5^th, 2009.

Health Economics Association of Ireland (HEAI) Meeting 2009
Date: Thursday February 5^th 2009
Start 1pm
Finish 4pm 
Venue: The Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Read more about the symposium.

New funding from CARDI will boost research on older people

The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) has launched a grants programme to improve policies and services for older people. It is inviting applications for grants to fund cross-border research or to create networks of academics and the public, private and voluntary sectors that will examine issues that arise out of an ageing society in Ireland, north and south. More information about the grants, including an application form that can be completed on-line, is on the website www.cardi.ie/grantprogramme or email info@cardi.ie.

 

Diploma in Social Gerontology Graduates (October 2008)

Missing from Class Photo - Hilary Scanlan and Bernadette O'Leary

Fourteen students have graduated from the first Diploma initiative at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology. The Diploma is a two-year programme – the first cycle of which ran from September 2006 to May, 2008. The programme includes a mixture of conventional lectures and visiting speakers; this gives students access to the expertise and experience of a wide range of researchers, academics and practitioners in the area of ageing. The course facilitates a high degree of participation from the students and encourages them to contribute their own knowledge and experience to the programme. The students are from diverse backgrounds in terms of age, occupation, life experience and educational background. They brought a wealth of enthusiasm to the course and the standards achieved are very high.

SHARE Launch (October 2008)

Researchers at the Irish Centre for Gerontology, NUI Galway have co-published the results from the first Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The objective of the study is to identify the key issues for people aged 50 and over in Ireland which will help inform policy makers, particularly regarding the financial, health and social inclusion aspects for an ageing economy. Read more about the launch

IRCHSS (October 2008)

Congratulations to Dr Gemma Carney who has been successful in securing an award under the recent IRCHSS Research Development Initiative Programme. Gemma's proposal entitled "Comparing Third Sector Lobbies in the Developmental Welfare State: a participatory policy analysis of institutional contexts and decision making strategies across the Life Cycle". The central objective of this research is to establish whether the lifecycle approach encourages members of the community and voluntary pillar to develop collective mobilising strategies towards lobbying and bargaining within social partnership.

User Forum - Who cares for Older Citizens living in County Galway?” (October 2008)

As part of their development and promotion of an holistic and positive view of ageing, the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) recently held a pilot user form for older citizens. The forum, comprised of 17 older citizens living within County Galway, who deliberated on: ‘Who cares for Older Citizens living in County Galway?” Drawing on their own life long experiences, the forum pooled their understanding of the availability of and access to, support and services that aim to promote optimum quality of life and secure independent living.

The forum’s goal was to identify some common issues/concerns and in small practical and achievable ways, to address at least one of these within an agreed timescale.  An Advisory Group consisting of older person service providers and independents is committed to responding to at least one of the issues within a realistic and cost effective time scale.
 

Effecting change takes time and as a pilot, the user forum provided an opportunity to both explore new ways of citizens to engage with service providers and vice versa and also to open up new forms of dialogue.   It is hoped that potentially on going actions may effect positive change in some aspect of health and social care service provision for older persons in County Galway.

Report Shows Investment In Mental Health Care Will Benefit Economy (Sept 2008)

The Mental Health Commission today published a report - The Economics of Mental Health Care in Ireland - prepared by Eamon O’Shea and Brendan Kennelly of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and Department of Economics, NUI Galway, showing the economic benefits of investment in services to deal with mental health problems. Such problems cost the economy over € 3 billion a year. Read the press release

Scholars Conduct Research on Chronic Pain at NUI Galway (July 08)

Leading researchers in pain medicine and health economics at the Centre for Pain Research, NUI Galway will supervise two Health Research Board-funded summer scholars in projects on Chronic Pain over the coming months, following a highly competitive awards scheme for summer research scholarships.

Edel Smith, a second year economics and maths students and Gerard Healy, a second year medicine student will be supervised by Dr Brenda Gannon, Senior Researcher, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) and Drs Brian McGuire and David Finn, Co-Directors of the Centre for Pain Research, NUI Galway, respectively. Read more about this research            

Ethnography Matters (March 2008)

Welcome to the second edition of Ethnography Matters. The Ethnographic component of the TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) project is located at the ICSG. This bulletin will keep you in touch with Ethnographic developments and research within the TRIL Centre. Read the bulletin.

€1.5 million Intel funding for Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (January 2007)

The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at NUI, Galway has been awarded €1.5 million from the Intel Corporation with the support of the IDA for the development of an ethnographic gerotechnology research team within the ICSG. This team will inform the design, application and usability of new technologies to enhance the quality of life and independence of older people as a part of the newly launched Technology and Research for Independent Living (TRIL). TRIL is a virtual centre, established as a part of Intel’s European Health Research and Innovation Capacity and involves cross-collaboration among the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), University College Dublin and Trinity College. For more information, read the press release

Older And Bolder Campaign For Equality For Older People Launched (November 2006)

Five organisations have come together to work for equality for older people under the banner of the Older and Bolder campaign.  The groups involved are Age Action Ireland, Age and Opportunity, Irish Hospice Foundation, Irish Senior Citizen’s Parliament and the Senior Help Line. Speaking at the launch was Professor Eamon O’Shea, from NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, who assisted the Older and Bolder campaign in the preparation of its position paper. Read more about the campaign.

Upcoming Events 2009

December 1st & 2nd 2009
Irish Social Science Platform Annual Conference Hosted by NUI Galway 1st - 2nd December 2009 ‘Social Science Research and Policy Making:  Bridging the Divide'		http://www.conference.ie/Conferences