Hamilton Order of Canada appointee ‘surprised’ to get the honour
McMaster professor Dr. Parminder Raina has been honoured as a member of the Order of Canada - one of the highest honours of merit in Canada - for his extraordinary contribution to research on aging and its impact on policy-making.
Raina, also a lead investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), is among 85 appointees to receive the recognition for his impact on national policy-making in geriatric care services," the Gov.-General of Canada Mary Simon's list said.
His recent works include a nationwide study on the impact of COVID-19 on aging Canadians, as well as a six-year-long study to better understand links between lifestyle, microbiology, and brain health.
In an interview with The Spectator, Raina said he was surprised" to be named a member of the Order of Canada, and delighted" that his work had some merit and made a difference."
Here are give questions with Dr. Parminder Raina about his work.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
How did you steer your focus to studying the aging population?
I've been working in this area for the last 25 years, continuing research on aging that has an impact on the lives of older people in this country and around the globe. I've been studying the issue from a health point of view - what happens to people, why do some people age in a healthy fashion and others don't? In the latter part of my career, I've started to focus more on how do you keep people functional, living in their own homes and communities as long as possible. Nobody wants to go to a long-term care institution setting.
Why is the research on the aging Canadian population in Canada important?
It has been a remarkable achievement of the public health system that we are living as long as we are. A hundred years ago, our life expectancy was in the 40s and 50s. Now, we have life expectancy in the mid-80s .
In Canada, we have more people over the age of 65 than we have children below the age of 15. It's a rapidly aging population. Older people are very productive members of our society even after they retire because they are part of the care system. They provide care to their spouses or other family members. They play a vital role in community volunteerism. It's not about making people live longer. It's about making people live healthily. We have to make sure our behaviours, our lifestyle, and external forces such as the pandemic don't change the course of that health span.
What is your motivation for studying the aging population in Canada?
I want people to see the value in having older people in the community. They are not just finishing their life. They are an important part of our socio-cultural environment and we have to learn how to support them. To some extent, all of us failed them during the pandemic. Most deaths happened in relation to older people, mostly those living in long-term care. In a country like Canada, we should have better systems in place to protect them.
As the demographic patterns shift, many who came to Canada in the mid-'80s or early '90s - including people like myself - are getting old. We also have to think about how aging itself intersects with racial issues. Racism is not an easy one to deal with and we have to be ahead of that curve to make a difference.
What challenges do people of aging population people from racialized communities face, and how can they be resolved?
We want to get rid of systemic biases that we have seen with Indigenous populations. When we are designing our future long-term care senior residence, we have to think about who are going to come to those facilities? Would they require culturally sensitive care providers? Simple things like language and food matter to people. We have to train and build capacity from a diverse point of view.
We also have other challenges in our communities, for example, many minority communities live in multi-generational homes. They want to care for the older people in their homes, but it's not always easy. Understand that there is a right place for our older people to age in an optimal fashion, and sometimes that might not be in our homes. That might be in a care facility where the appropriate care and attention can be given. The same goes for LBGTQ communities. We have to make sure our systems are designed to provide care that doesn't discriminate.
What has been the impact of your research in shaping government policies?
One example I can think of is the work we did during the pandemic. We looked at issues of public health mandates that were introduced across the country. Even though the restrictions saved lives from infection, they also had side effects. Unintended consequences such as mental health, social isolation, and issues of accessing care for non-COVID-related treatment became a huge challenge. With the research and evidence, the public health agencies of Canada have that information available to think if we have another pandemic, can things be done differently.
Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com