Alan DeLaTorre (left) and Eiji Toda (right) present their research poster in the exhibit hall at GSA 2024.
In November 2024, members of Portland State University’s Institute on Aging attended the Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 2024 Scientific Meeting in Seattle, WA. The four-day conference brought together professionals and researchers from across the world to explore key issues in the field of aging.
A Snapshot of IOA Research Presentations
Several members of the IOA team shared their latest research on a variety of topics (four of which are highlighted below). All told, the IOA presented six papers, six posters, and two symposiums.
Telling a Story Through Spatial Analyses of Age-Friendly Physical, Social, and Service Environments in Portland, OR by Alan DeLaTorre and Eiji Toda. This research explored age-friendly environments to inform the City of Portland’s planning efforts through literature review, data collection, and data analysis.
Alan DeLaTorre (right) and Eiji Toda (left) present their research poster in the exhibit hall at GSA 2024.
Examining the Impact of Ride-hailing on the Travel Behavior of Older Adults Across Three Cities by Minju Song. This work explored how educational and technological advancements can aid older drivers in maintaining their independence and safety on the road.
Minju Song presents on education and technology innovations to support older drivers.
Realities of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Assisted Living: Safety, Connection, and Community by Jacklyn Kohon, Dani Himes, and Sarah Dys. This study centers the voices and experiences of those working and living in assisted living, residential care, and memory care settings in Oregon to understand how workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging can promote well-being.
Dani Himes shares their collaborative research poster on assisted living.
Promoting Lifelong Learning at Oregon's Age-Friendly Universities by Serena Hasworth, Melissa Cannon, Lauren Bouchard, and Noriko Toyokawa, highlighted the importance of supporting older adults in continuing education, particularly in age-friendly colleges in Oregon.
Serena Hasworth presents on developing an age-inclusivity micro-credential program.
Recapping a Meaningful Conference
After returning to Portland, the IOA team engaged in a reflection exercise to distill prevalent themes, capture learnings, and share a few people and organizations doing interesting, inspiring work across the field.
The reflection was movie inspired, and organized between the Highlight Reel (favorite parts of attending), the Documentary (stand-out learnings), and the Credits (inspiring people/organizations). Not pictured: the Bloopers!
Attending: What made GSA 2024 special
Above all, attending GSA 2024 brought themes around connecting and re-connecting with other gerontology enthusiasts, spending time in a rich learning environment, getting to include family in the event, and moving/exploring within the conference and around Seattle.
Learning: Gerontology topics that stood out
Reflecting on favorite moments at GSA 2024.
As we reflected on key topics, themes, and takeaways at this year’s GSA conference, four main areas stood out:
Connection and loneliness: overall, the number of sessions about social isolation, loneliness, and connection stood out this year. A few highlights that our team recounted were around the creativity of programs being administered including intergenerational community-based centers and community-based memory cafes. Key concepts, like “allophilia,” meaning a positive attitude towards people different from oneself (important in building intergenerational relationships) and making “ibasho” in Japan, which means “a place where you can feel like yourself” in Japanese. Making ibasho means individuals feel secure, have a role, and create meaning within a social environment.
Evolving patient-centered care: overall, there was an emphasis on integrative care. Stand-out topics included encouraging more conversations about advance care planning and de-mystifying that conversation for students through trainings, as well as building support for caregivers in medical settings where they often are made to feel invisible.
Resistance and applying critical theories: Themes around political and community organizing within the aging space, as well as raising the question “how can age benefit from post-structural frameworks?”
Climate resilience: there was a notable increase in climate-related research this year compared to GSA 2023.
Celebrating: People doing inspiring work
There were thousands of incredible folks who gathered at GSA who are involved in shaping the future of aging research and practice. As we looked back on some of the people we met and learned from, here are just a few we want to highlight and send our thanks for inspiring us:
Adrienne Lone, PsyD - Dementia grief therapy yoga/ayurvedic medicine
Mississippi Public Health Department: Age-Friendly Mississippi
OHSU Department of Primary Care
Portland VA
The Scholars Strategy Network - workshops for training researchers to inform policy
Tokyo Metro Institute for Geriatrics & Gerontology
Untold Stories of Aging - an arts and media based community-action project
Where to Find the IOA after GSA 2024
While GSA 2024 has been a momentous bright spot, the IOA has a lot to look forward to for the rest of the year! If you’d like to learn more, there are plenty of ways to stay connected:
Check out our latest research and projects
Attend upcoming IOA events
Learn about our gerontology graduate certificate program
Become a member of the GSA student chapter
Follow us on Linkedin
Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter
Have something else in mind? Get in touch!