How we deal with social developments: University of Graz in the focus of ageing and care research

During the conference, the campus also served as an exhibition space. Photo: Uni Graz/Vilgut

We are getting older. While today just under 20 percent of the people living in Austria are over 65, this share will grow to 28 percent in 2050. Older people shape this phase of life in many different ways. How do we deal with socio-demographic change and challenges such as dementia, migration and violence in old age? How can intergenerational cooperation and the good life in old age be promoted? These were the topics of the inaugural conference of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Ageing and Care (CIRAC) at the University of Graz.

The pandemic had postponed the inaugural conference of CIRAC - founded in 2020 - to this year from 20 to 22 September 2023. 160 participants from 20 nations came together to discuss issues related to ageing in caring societies. In 20 discussion panels, researchers presented their findings and exchanged ideas with their peers and partners from the field.
Highlights were the four high-profile keynotes by US political scientist Joan Tronto, Kelli Stajduhar (Professor at the School of Nursing and the Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria, Canada), Canadian sociologist Stephen Katz and British literary scholar Amelia DeFalco. Topics ranged from the difficulties of caring for people with dementia to the democratisation of elder care and futuristic concepts of ageing.
Kelli Stajduhar, for example, also spoke about the problems of marginalised social classes and homelessness in old age. The Canadian researcher brought numerous examples from Victoria, British Columbia, which show that discrimination due to poverty, ethnicity or addiction does not end even in the dying process.

In addition, the University of Graz researchers Anna-Christina Kainradl, Klaus Wegleitner, Annette Sprung, Dzenana Pupic and Brigitte Kukovetz reported in a panel on their experience with the Caring Living Labs, a project of the University of Graz with regional partners. The research work ranges from active participation in suburban districts of Graz to further education offers for older persons with migration history to ethical questions in work in old people's homes.
During the conference, the campus also served as an exhibition space. On display boards, the projects "HILFSLINIEN/LINES OF HELP" and "HALT: Keine Gewalt! Stop Violence Against Older People" on the one hand addressed the connection between migration and 24-hour care and on the other hand tried to break the taboo of domestic violence in old age.

>> Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Aging and Care (CIRAC)

Roman Vilgut

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