GERO 101: Aging and Society

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For further assistance with your assignment, you can contact Nina Smart, Liaison Librarian for Gerontology at 778.782.5043 (Tuesdays and Thursdays) (Monday to Thursday) or nsmart@sfu.ca. Additionally, help is available through Ask a Librarian. 

 

Course description and readings

 

"Introduces the social, psychological, and physical dimensions of aging. Largely based on the Canadian context, but will also include international research and knowledge." This course is designed to provide undergraduate students with an introduction to the social, psychological, and physical dimensions of aging.
[For more information, see the GERO 101 Course Outline and page in Canvas. If there are discrepancies between  information listed on this page and that in Canvas or instructor handouts, please refer to the latter.]

Research paper: finding books and articles

Guides on research and writing

Start Your Research Here 
SFU guide to researching and writing a term paper

"How to research a term paper"  Gerontology-specific guide in book:
Aging: Concepts and controversies [print]

Literature Reviews 
UNC webguide that provides instructions and strategies for writing a literature review

The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It  
discusses what a literature review is and how you can write one successfully

More help

Student learning Commons  "provides learning and writing support services" including:

Books

Background information

The Encyclopedia of Gerontology [online and print]
Reference works such as encyclopedias are a great place to start to get an overview of a new topic.  Entries are written by experts in the field, and often there is a useful bibliography. Sample entries: Ageism and Discrimination; Mobility and Flexibility

Suggested Books:

Aging and society: A Canadian perspective [print]
Aging and the life course: An introduction to social gerontology  [print]
Aging in contemporary Canada [print] 
Aging: Concepts and controversies [print]
Images that injure: pictorial stereotypes in the media [print]
See Chapter 20,  describing older adults
Decoding the cultural stereotypes about aging: New perspectives on aging talk and aging issues  [print]

To find books, search the  SFU catalogue; for search tips see SFU Library Catalogue Search Guide. 

 

Finding journal articles

Quick Start to getting articles:
 "Finding gerontology articles in the SFU catalogue" video (at 3:40 mark is Advanced catalogue searching)

Search examples in Catalogue:

"community housing" AND (seniors OR elderly OR "older persons" OR "older adults" OR gerontolog* OR geriatr* OR aging)
"community based services" AND (seniors OR elderly OR "older persons" OR "older adults" OR gerontolog* OR geriatr* OR aging)

...and then Limit to Articles on the left side of the page 

You can also directly search: New York Times 
to find articles on older people in mass media This online version of NYT is through Factiva, a full-text resource containing 3500 newspapers

See also Databases in Gerontology for other useful indexes on gerontological topics, or ask Nina

Useful web sites and books

Statistical resources

Information from Statistics Canada unless otherwise specified:

Age Pyramids
Statistics Canada

2021 Census of Population Indicators (e.g. Education)
Statistics Canada

Fact book on Aging in B.C. and Canada 
Statistical overview, published by the Gerontology Research Centre at SFU

Population Projections for Canada (2013 to 2063) - Statistics Canada population projections based on "the latest population estimates and on assumptions that were developed from both historical and recent demographic trends with the advice of experts in demography"

Population aging - Statistics Canada sub-section that provides access to data, tables, and publications

Report on Health and Aging in Canada (2018) Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Covers demography, retirement, social engagement, caregiving, health, lifestyle, transportation and LGB

Ageism

Revera Report on Ageism: Independence and Choice As We Age
Sheridan Centre for Elder Research

For books, see the SFU catalogue under the Subjects such as : Ageism

Health information

Canadian Institute for Health Information section: Seniors Health
CIHI is a national organization dedicated to providing "essential information on Canada’s health system and the health of Canadians"

Report on Health and Aging in Canada (2018) Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) 
Age Forward: BC’s 50+ Health Strategy  British Columbia Ministry of Health

Housing for seniors

Aging as a social process: Canadian perspectives [print]
See  Chapter 8, "The Lived Environment: Community and Housing Alternatives in Later Life" for an overview of types of housing for older adults

Aging and the life course: An introduction to social gerontology [print]
See Chapter 9,  "Living arrangements" 

Report on housing needs of seniors 
Employment and Social Development Canada

 

For more information see: 
Further Gerontology resources for work and retirement, aging and ethnicity and many other topics