Team

Anne Sophie Dubé is a PhD candidate in public health (specialization in epidemiology) at Université de Montréal, working under supervision of Lise Gauvin and Philippe Apparicio. Previously, she studied architecture and urban planning, where she worked on elderly mobility problems in outdoor public spaces. Her primary research interests include population health, active transportation and built environment. For her thesis, she examines the impacts of the implementation of public bike share programs in several North American cities. Besides her PhD, she is also working as a research assistant for Dr Patrik Marier on the project “The Politics of Social Gerontology”.

Daniel Dickson is a PhD student in Political Science at Concordia University. His dissertation project will create a cross-provincial policy index to compare effectiveness in implementing social inclusion outcomes for older adults with developmental disabilities. Drawing from his past experience as a personal support worker, his primary research interest is in analyzing the effects of public policies that aim to act against the marginalization and social exclusion of persons with developmental disabilities in Canada. Through his work as a research assistant to Dr. Patrik Marier he has also gained experience with various theories, methodologies and concepts that aim to improve our understanding of the barriers faced by older adults in relation to operant public policies in numerous countries.

Project

‘New Population’, Old Problems: Policy Implementation and the Social Inclusion of Older Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Canada

This project asks ‘what explains provincial variation in social inclusion outcomes for older adults with developmental disabilities?’ As a result of deinstitutionalization and improved access to health and social services, people with developmental disabilities are increasingly living into older adulthood, with an average life expectancy that is approaching that of the general Canadian population. However, despite the popularity of decline narratives which connect old age and disability by functional or cognitive decline in later life, or aging into disability, relatively sparse attention has been paid to the experiences of people aging with disability. In this context, older adults with developmental disabilities have emerged as a ‘new population’ in the Canadian social services landscape, caught between the separate ‘silos’ of disability and aging services. This project has two main objectives: i) to identify how social services structures can effectively promote the social inclusion of older adults with developmental disabilities; and ii) to explain provincial variation in these outcomes. These objectives will be achieved through the construction of a social policy index comprised of key indicators that compare Canada’s provinces based on the effectiveness of existing service structures in implementing social inclusion outcomes.

Email: daniel.dickson@mail.concordia.ca

Dr. Kyuho Lee is a Horizon postdoctoral fellow researcher in Political Science at Concordia University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University. His research interests are related to the issues of older adults such as work, retirement, caregiving, health, life events, and aging-related behavioral/relational changes, which led him to have finished and ongoing publications on these matters. For example, in his doctoral dissertation, he used data from the Health and Retirement Studies to demonstrate the importance of individual resources (e.g., physical health, finances, and social supports) for adults’ mental health and retirement satisfaction over time after retirement.

Project

The Politics of Social Gerontology in Asian Post-Industrialised Societies

For this project, Dr. Lee is studying the institutional and political factors facilitating (or hindering) the development of innovative social policies that improve the autonomy of older individuals in twenty post-industrial countries. He will complement the expertise of other team members and will contribute primarily to developing the South Korean component of this research project led by chair holder Professor Patrik Marier. In addition, he will participate in other phases of this research project including a) the creation of an innovative social gerontological policy index; b) the comparative analysis across countries.

Email: kyu.lee@concordia.ca