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What can you do with a day off? July 1st. was Canada Day, but since it fell on a Sunday, the holiday was observed on Monday, July 2nd. If you lived in Vancouver, BC you could attend the 17th World Congress of Gerontology as a volunteer manning the Parkinson booth for the BC Parkinson's Disease Association and Parkinsons Society Canada. "Global Aging: Working Together in a Changing World." 17th World Congress of Gerontology http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/iag/ I'm very lucky, we do live in Vancouver, we walked the 12 blocks to the convention centre, and spent a day volunteering. We had handout material in English, French, and Chinese. (Vancouver has a very large Chinese community) The attendees asked questions, exchanged business cards, and were often surprised that there is a national Parkinson's group and a strong local group. As a volunteer I also got to roam a little and check out the other exhibits. Come with me on a cyber tour of the exhibition hall.... These days everyone has a website. Some also had handout CD's. Notably: BC Govt. - This CD links to information about the many policies, programs and services available to seniors in the province of British Columbia. Govt. of Canada - The Dare to Age Well CD is a collection of publications and photos presenting the many aspects of healthy aging in Canada. It contains publications from Health Canada, in particular from the Division of Aging and Seniors, and others resulting from Federal / Provincial / Territorial collaboration. All the material is in both English and French. For more information contact: Health Canada Division of Aging and Seniors (613) 952-7606 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/seniors-aines Govt. of Canada - The End of Life Care For Seniors CD contains three publications that explore medical, cultural, spiritual and ethical issues in end-of-life care. The intended audience includes health care and social service providers, seniors, family caregivers and the general public. For more information contact: Health Canada Division of Aging and Seniors Postal Locator 1908A1 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1B4 (613) 952-7606 e-mail: [log in to unmask] http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/seniors-aines Canadian Standards Association - CSA International A CD - Making Standards Work For People and Business Coming Soon - B659-01 Design For Aging This guideline provides the core principles, guiding concepts and tools applicable to the design and provision of products, services and environments that are used by seniors and whose abilities are affected by aging. For more information e-mail [log in to unmask] or call (416) 747-2670 Handout CD's have a lot of advantages for travelling Convention attendees. ie: not bulky and heavy... Many exhibitors prominently featured their Websites: (and web address was asked for many times in our booth) Parkinsons Society Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/ Statistics Canada http://www.statcan.ca/english/ http://www.statcan.ca/francais/ The Canadian Seniors Policies and Programs Database http://www.sppd.gc.ca The Canadian Institutes of Health Research CIHR/IRSC http://www.cihr.ca or http://www.irsc.ca The Canadian Network For The Prevention of Elder Abuse http://www.inpea.net CMHC Housing Standards (including adaptations for people with disabilities) http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca The Dr. Tong Louie Living Laboratory http://www.sfu.ca/livinglab The Arthritis Society http://www.artritis.ca ProBed http://www.pro-bed.com/ The Nimble Rocket Power Wheelchair (I got to test drive - what a beauty!) http://www.nimble-inc.com/ That's just a fraction... (I avoided most o the commercial stuff) So.... that's what you can do on a day off... Volunteer / Learn / Share / Make a Difference And when ya get home.... your daughter has e-mailed the latest digital images of your youngest grand-daughter... What a fabulous world we live in! Cheers .... murray ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn