Welcome from the Ageing SIG Co-chairs

We hope everyone is enjoying some favorable weather and finding time to stay active and eat well! We are looking forward to meeting up with many of you at the upcoming Annual conference in Omaha later this year! This year’s conference will have a special focus on climate action and sustainability. In this issue we share more details about Ageing SIG activities at the annual meeting- including our awards session and oral presentations. 

In this newsletter we provide more information on three new and exciting Ageing SIG awards and ask that you submit your nominations! These awards are for a recently graduated doctoral candidate, early career researcher, as well as senior researcher. The deadline for submission has been extended to May 1, 2024. 

Find information and a link to the recording of our last Webinar from the Global Age-Friendly University Network. We are in the planning stages of our next Webinar and welcome expressions of interest from any members that can share their experience and expertise on sustainable food systems and healthy ageing or any other topic. Email us at ageing_sig@isbnpa.org 

We hope you enjoy the March newsletter!  

Follow us on X at @ISBNPA_Ageing or contact us via  ageing_sig@isbnpa.org 

AGEING PRESENCE AT ANNUAL MEETING - 2024 - Omaha, US, May 20-23

Please see below a list of presentation relevant to our SIG:  

Award Session - Ageing | Motivation and behavior change

Date: Monday, May 20, 5.15 to 6.30pm, Ballroom B 

• Prof. Delfien Van Dyck: Why and in which contexts do older adults sit? An EMA study to identify the context- and time-depending determinants of sedentary behavior in older adults. 

• Ms. Ella Bracci: Mediterranean Diet adherence and psychological health in older South Australians: A preliminary analysis of the MedWalk trial 

• Ms. Mya Price: Amplifying the Voices of Hunger: Food Insecurity among Black Seniors in U.S. Metro Areas: Consequences and Implications 

• Ms. Yiqing "Skylar" Yu: The impact of activity-permissive workstations on physical and psychological well-being 

• Dr. Astrid Zamora: Identifying predictors of achieving 150 minutes of weekly walking among older latinx adults: insights from signal detection analysis 

• Ms. Laura Arrazat: Effects of doubling the availability of vegetarian meals on meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking in university cafeterias: a controlled trial in France. 

Oral presentations 

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 12 to 1:15pm (Room 212), O.2.14: Nutrition and Lifestyle: Pathways to Health and Longevity 

• Prof. Delfien Van Dyck: Unveiling the digital pathways to active aging: an exploratory mixed methods study examining older adults’ perceptions towards mHealth and the impact of person-level factors on engagement with the MyHealthPlan mHealth intervention 

• Dr. Astrid Zamora: Predictive associations between acculturation and 12-month physical activity and sedentary behavior among older latinx adults: findings from the compass physical activity intervention trial 

• Associate Professor Karen Murphy: Effect of a Mediterranean Diet intervention, supplemented with dairy foods on cardiovascular and cognitive health and the gut microbiota. 

• Mrs. Harlivleen Gill. Effect of Nutrition Education and Medically-Tailored Meal Interventions on older adults with Type 2 Diabetes 

• Dr. Jiaren Chen: Sociodemographic, anthropometric and behavioral factors associated with older adults’ phase angle: findings from Taiwan. 

• Dr. Kerem Shuval: Dietary patterns and cardiorespiratory fitness in midlife in relation to subsequent all-cause dementia: Findings from The Cooper Center Longitudinal Study 



Business meeting 



Stay tuned for information on our business meeting. 

AGEING SIG AWARDS - Deadline extended to May 1, 2024

The Ageing SIG is proud to introduce three new SIG awards:

• AGEING SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award (Winner receives $750 travel stipend to attend annual conference) 

This award recognizes doctoral students who have conducted high quality dissertation work in the field of ageing and nutrition and/or physical activity. 

• AGEING SIG Early Career Investigator Award (Winner receives $750 travel stipend to attend annual conference  

This award recognizes early career investigators who are performing high quality research in the field of ageing and nutrition and/or physical activity. 

• AGEING SIG Distinguished Scientist Award 

This award recognizes experienced investigators who have performed/are performing high quality research in the field of ageing and nutrition and/or physical activity. 

Recipients of these awards will be highlighted at our annual business meeting and featured in our newsletter.  

Nominations are due May 1, 2024 



For more information about the award categories and how to apply please follow this link

The Ageing SIG hosted a Webinar in November about the Global Age-Friendly University Network.  

The Webinar was a great success and attracted a lot of attention from our member. The speakers were Alix McDonald from the University of Strathclyde and Aaron Guest from Arizona State University. The session was moderated by Shilpa Dogra from Ontario Tech University.

The speakers talked about the Global Age-Friendly University Network, the process to become a designated university, and the myriad programs and benefits of leading this program on your campus.  

You can find the recording of the webinar here

SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES

This year we are aiming to highlight your incredible contribution to the ageing research space through our X account. Do you have a new publication, presentation abstracts, posters or announcements you would like to share on our X account? 

Please send any X content you would like posted to ageing_sig@isbnpa.org 

Follow us on X: @ISBNPA_Ageing  

• Wadsworth DP, Tulloch K, Wright H, Linton C, Baker J, Fien S, Szabo H, Askew CD, Schaumberg MA. Learning from the lived experience of functionally healthy older adults: What does it mean to be “healthy”? Collegian. 2023 Jun 1;30(3):407-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2022.11.005

• Gilbert, Stephen, Jordan, Alastair, Ding, Ding, Tiedemann, Anne, Sherrington, Catherine, Pinheiro MB. Cultural, Linguistic, and Geographical Diversity of Participants in Australian Physical Activity Research Studies: A Systematic Review. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. 2024 Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0608  

Do you have a new paper you would like highlighted? Email us at ageing_sig@isbnpa.org

SPOTLIGHT ON AN EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER

One of the aims of the Ageing SIG is to enhance networking, advertise post doc positions, job opportunities and research exchanges. We would like to use the newsletter to invite one Early-Stage Researcher to talk about their PhD topic and future expectations.



Suggest any of your PhD students for our next issue. Please send them to: ageing_sig@isbnpa.org

Spotlight on Dr Heidi Gilchrist

Lecturer in Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia

1.    Tell us about your area of research. What attracted you to this area of research? 

I use qualitative and mixed research methods to understand how and why older people engage with physical activity programs/services. Although we know physical activity participation has myriad health benefits for older people, including reducing falls and fractures, exercise adherence remains a major issue. As a physiotherapist I have spent a lot of time in the clinic encouraging older adults to stay active, and so as a public health researcher my passion is for finding innovative ways to engage older adults in meaningful and enjoyable physical activities that promote both general health and fall reduction.

2.     What have been your most exciting achievements to date?  

My research team and I produced a WHO commissioned rapid review of physical activity programs and services for older adults. This report informed the development of the WHO ACTIVE toolkit for promoting physical activity for older people and is cited in policy documents. I love knowing our work has far reaching and real-world impact.

I am also leading a pilot trial of tailored dance for healthy ageing and fall reduction, which I am really excited about. Dance is very popular and can be “exercise in disguise” for older adults who aren’t interested in traditional forms of exercise. This pilot trial will ideally lead to a larger RCT assessing the impact of tailored dance on health, wellbeing and falls in older people. This research has the potential to widen the range of physical activities we can recommend to older adults that both improve health and well being and reduce falls.

3.     Tell us about your current role  

I am a research and teaching academic in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. I conduct my research in the Physical Activity, Healthy Ageing and Disability research stream at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, which is a partnership between the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District. Here I am fortunate enough to collaborate with and be mentored by world leaders in the field of physical activity, fall prevention and healthy ageing. I also coordinate and teach several core units of the Master of Public Health and am Academic Coordinator for the 400+ students in the Master of Public Health Program. It is a busy a but rewarding job.

4.     What research publications would you like to highlight?  

I think these publications demonstrate my overarching interest in what creates engagement in and enjoyment of physical activity for older people, each from a slightly different angle:

Gilchrist H, Oliveira JS, Kwok WS, Sherrington C, Pinheiro MB, Bauman A, Tiedemann A, Hassett L. Use of behavior change techniques in physical activity programs and services for older adults: findings from a rapid review. Ann Behav Med. 2024 Feb 10;58(3):216-226.

https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaad074

2. Haynes A, Tiedemann A, Hewton G, Chenery J, Sherrington C, Merom D, Gilchrist H (senior author). "It doesn't feel like exercise": a realist process evaluation of factors that support long-term attendance at dance classes designed for healthy ageing. Front Public Health. 2023 Dec 20;11:1284272.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1284272

3. Gilchrist H, Haynes A, Oliveira JS, Grunseit A, Sherrington C, Bauman A, Shepherd R, Tiedemann A. The value of mind-body connection in physical activity for older people. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity 2023 31(1):81-88. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2021-0503

5.      What do you like to do for fun? 

I like to get outdoors hiking and biking on the weekends. I am heading to Tasmania (Australia) soon to do the Three Capes Walk and am really looking forward to that. I am also a big fan of traveling, reading fiction and swimming in the ocean, and even better if I can combine all three!

Have anything to add to the next issue? Let us know by sending an email to ageing_sig@isbnpa.org