History 2021
History in 2021
The 3rd International Conference on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (SilverAge 2021), hosted by iConferences, was held on 20th of November 2021, via virtual platform, with the greater collaboration of International Institute on Aging, United Nations – Malta joining as the academic partner. The conference paved the way for conversations based on the strategies that can be adopted to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of the elderly population, at the face of a global pandemic.
The knowledge shared by the distinguished keynote speakers during the conference laid a strong foundation for the scholarly discussions and motivated all the participants to ponder more on the topic with a broader
perspective. SilverAge 2021 was indeed an efficacious platform for many researchers to share their findings based on relevant topics and share insights regarding their impact. It was impressive to witness the invaluable information shared by the
presenters who joined from all around the world representing different countries like India, UK, USA, Germany, China, Russia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. All these information showed great potential in establishing the main objectives of the conference, which is to take measures to strengthen the health and wellbeing of the elderly population.
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Datin Jacqueline WM Wong
“‘Living Longer and Covid-19: The Asia Pacific Perspective — Ageing, Diversity, Equality and Creating Solutions‘‘
The first keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Datin Jacqueline WM Wong, Honorary Advisor, Dementia Brunei. Her speech was focused on explaining the requirements of Dementia patients, and the impact of social movements in safeguarding their wellbeing. Providing global statistics, she propounded the facts regarding the global status of the disease and emphasized the extent of attention that should be paid to taking care of the patients.
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Mala Kapur Shankardass
‘‘Elderly Friendly Environment: Concerns and Initiatives’’
Dr. Mala Kapur Shankardass Sociologist, Gerontologist and Health Social Scientist, a Retired Prof. University of Delhi, India, delivered the second keynote speech based on the title “Elderly Friendly Environment: Concerns and Initiatives”. During the speech, Dr. Mala elucidated the current issue arising in the global context with the increasing aged population, and several measures to be taken to extend sufficient care to them. She also explained different initiatives implemented by countries in order to make their environment aged friendly, thereby ensuring the safety of the senior citizens.
Keynote Speaker – Prof. Marvin Formosa PhD
‘‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Active and Healthy Ageing’’
The next keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Marvin Formosa Ph.D., Director, International Institute on Ageing, United Nations-Malta (INIA). Sharing his experience as a Gerontologist, Prof. Formosa explained the significance of conversation in identifying the requirements of the aged citizens and treating them accordingly. The negative impact of Covid 19 on older citizens in terms of social isolation, digital divide, gender disparity and many more aspects was clearly noted during the speech. It is evident that Covid 19 has obstructed the access to many human rights of all the populations, especially that of senior citizens, whereas they are more frequently excluded in the decision-making process. Prof. Formosa included several corrective measures in his speech, as future lessons in this regard.
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Shiva Nagaratnam
‘‘Falls in older people: assessing risk and prevention’’’
Technical session was chaired by Dr. Rosette Farrugia Bonella, Deputy Director of International Institute of Aging – United Nations Malta. Dr. Rosette explained different aspects of challenges faced by the aged population due to weakened physical strength. Therefore, the caretaking of the senior citizens has become challengeable, and demands more care and consideration. The strategies to be followed when handling senior citizens psychologically were highlighted during the speech. Enriched with the insights gained through professional experience, Dr. Rosette enlightened the participants with valuable knowledge.
Sessions
Technical Session 1
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Shiva Nagaratnam
The first technical session was chaired by Dr. Nidhi Gupta, Senior Researcher of Department of Health, John Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health. The session was enriched with engrossing finding of 3 researchers. This session was allocated to discuss the impact of Covid 19 on the senior citizens. The findings of the researchers prompted discussions on the aspects of stress and resilience of older citizens, clinical challenges, socio-spatial problems and lessons learnt associated with the pandemic. The need of gender specific gerontological counselling programs, importance of guidelines, the strategies that can be formulated into guidelines and applicability of a social-spatial lens in negotiating urban health crises were unraveled during the discussion occurred in this technical session.
Technical Session 2
Mental Health
The second technical session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Lochana Shrestha, President of Nepalese Society of Community Medicine, Head of Department of Community Medicine of Nepalese Army Institute of Health Science. 3 researchers presented their interesting findings during the session.This session paved the way to effective discussions harping on the mental wellbeing of the senior citizens belonging to different parts of the society. The studies presented during this session emphasized the complications of overcrowding in a prison towards the aged inmates, effectiveness of Computerized Cognitive Treatment in preventing and delaying Dementia and correlation of Electronic Frailty Indices (EFI) and General Anxiety Depression (GAD) scores in a rural population. Accordingly, the session was capable in exchange of valuable knowledge in sustaining mental health of vulnerable populations.
Technical Session 3
Demography
This technical session was chaired by Dr. Rosette Farrugia Bonella, Deputy Director of International Institute of Aging – United Nations Malta. The interesting findings of 3 researches were presented during this session.During the session the suitability of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) tool for on-going and advanced care planning by scoping the health and social care needs of patients with dementia was explained. Findings of a research based on prevalence, demographics and clinical characteristics associated with mortality among elderly admitted with Community Acquired Pneumonia and another which focused on various clinical and angiographic factors affecting CAD characteristics in elderly patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome were explored during the session.
Technical Session 4
Ageing and Aged Care
This technical session was chaired by Dr. Rosette Farrugia Bonella, Deputy Director of International Institute of Aging – United Nations Malta. The interesting findings of 3 researches were presented during this session.During the session the suitability of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) tool for on-going and advanced care planning by scoping the health and social care needs of patients with dementia was explained. Findings of a research based on prevalence, demographics and clinical characteristics associated with mortality among elderly admitted with Community Acquired Pneumonia and another which focused on various clinical and angiographic factors affecting CAD characteristics in elderly patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome were explored during the session.
Poster session
The Poster Session was chaired by Dr. Fakhrul Zaman Rokhini, Associate Professor at the Department of Computer and Communication System Engineering at University of Putra, Malayasia. This session created a great platform to present compelling findings made during 5 researches, while exchanging new knowledge with the participants.Majority of the researches that were presented during the session were focused on assessing the conditions of other disorders that can be faced by the long-living patients with coronary artery disease. Discussions based on the features of metabolic disorders in very elderly patients with Atrial Fibrillation were also prompted during this session. One of the studies which was presented revealed the facts relating to the risk of development of Cognitive Disorders in older people in Kazakhstan. It was very well established that older citizens are more vulnerable to different disorders; hence special care should be taken in ensuring their good health and wellbeing.
The award ceremony
The Award ceremony was conducted in order to recognize the exceptional research presentations for each technical session.
Technical Session – Older Persons and Covid 19
Dr. Vidya Shankar
“The Dunkirk Revisited – Clinical Challenges, Innovations in Care and Lessons Learnt in COVID-19 Pandemic on an Older- Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Service”.
Technical Session – Mental Health
Ms. Li Ran and Ms. Jiawei Gengr
“The Effectiveness of Computerized Cognitive Training in Preventing and Delaying Dementia in People with Early Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”
Technical Session – Demography
Mr. Yathorshan Shanthakumaran
“Advanced Care Planning Using the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) in Patients with Frailty and Dementia”
