Huntington University president and vice-chancellor Kevin McCormick has spent his career understanding and anticipating the needs of students. As of this summer, he is sharing his insights about the needs of aging Canadians. He has been appointed to a three-year term on the National Seniors Council (NSC).
The NSC, created in 2007, provides recommendations to the federal government on matters related to the health, well-being, labour participation of older Canadians, low-income among seniors, positive and active aging, volunteerism, and elder abuse.
Its current mandate is to identify measures to reduce crimes and harm against seniors, with a particular focus on financial abuse, fraud and scams; to identify measures to counteract ageism; to make recommendations about housing; and to provide advice on gaps that could potentially be addressed if a national seniors’ strategy were developed.
“My background is in the area of social justice, criminology, issues around harm reduction. Working to solve problems around crime and aging would be of personal interest,” says McCormick.
By 2030, the number of seniors will reach 9.6 million people, representing close to one quarter of Canada’s population
“The issue of aging is critical to all of us,” says McCormick. At age 53, he is hopeful that he might benefit from some of the NSC’s recommendations.
“I think it is important that we need to as a country show that seniors and those who are aging are treated with the upmost of dignity and access to all…Aging is different for everyone.”
Under his leadership, Huntington’s gerontology program was expanded and rebranded as Canadian Institute for Studies in Aging (CISA).
McCormick has shared his time and expertise with countless organizations, including the United Way, Health Sciences North, Réseau Access Network, Maison McCulloch Hospice and St. John Ambulance.
The chair of the NSC is Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard who has extensive experience in community health nursing and gerontology, served as president of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, is an associate professor at the School of Nursing as well as director of the Centre for Aging Research at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick.
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