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Conferences & lectures

Falls and Fractures in Advanced Aging: The need for Canadian evidence-based multidisciplinary prevention strategies for long term care

Part of the PERFORM Colloquium


Date & time
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Cost

This event is free

Where

Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre
7141 Sherbrooke W.

Wheel chair accessible

Yes

In 2014, 15.7 per cent of Canadians were over 65 years of age. Population projections estimate that by year 2041 the life expectancy at birth for Canadian men approximates 81 years and for women 86 years. Furthermore, as many as 23 per cent of the population will be over the age of 65 years by 2063 with almost 10 per cent represented by those over 80 years of age. Thus optimizing care in the primary setting, which is often in a long term care facility for the frailest of the elderly, will require effective novel treatments for common age related chronic diseases such as osteoporosis.

Vitamin D intake as a means to improve vitamin D status is highly regarded in the treatment of osteoporosis. Fracture risk was stated as the most important functional indicator of vitamin D status due to associated mortality and morbidity risks. This talk will address the growing need for new strategies in long term care in the prevention and management of osteoporosis using vitamin D intake as an example.  The unique needs of the elderly including dysphagia will be highlighted along with strategies to reduce polypharmacy based on research into the preferences of residents of long term care.

By the end of this lecture, attendees will:

  • Appreciate the complexities in meeting the new Dietary Reference Intake values for vitamin D.
  • Consider alternative strategies to standard supplementation practices.
  • Learn about bone mineral density techniques suitable for use in advanced aging.

Learn more about the PERFORM Colloquium Series.

About Dr. Hope Weiler

Dr. Hope Weiler is an Associate Professor and Registered Dietitian in the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University.  Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Guelph followed by a Practicum in Clinical Nutrition jointly offered through Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and McMaster University plus a Doctorate in Medical Sciences, Cell Biology and Metabolism at McMaster University. Dr. Weiler is currently in receipt of a Canada Research Chair at McGill University where her research focus is on mineral and lipid nutrients, including vitamin D, and the role in bone mineral acquisition in children and maintenance in adulthood in urban and Indigenous populations in Canada. She is the co-chair for the National Inuit Health Surveys Working Group and administrative principal investigator managing the International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey of 2007-2008. 

To date, Dr. Weiler has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and provided graduate training to over 50 graduate trainees and 40 undergraduate students. Dr. Weiler has been awarded prestigious awards from the Canada Research Chairs program, the New Investigator Award from the Canadian Nutrition Society and the Wiebe Visser International Nutrition Dairy Prize from the International Dairy Federation.  She has served numerous societies, organizations and areas of nutrition. She is past Chair of Food, Nutrition and Health peer-review committee for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Weiler is director of the Mary Emily Clinical Nutrition Unit of McGill and is a member of the editorial board for Nutrition Research and The Journal of Nutrition.


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