Mac undergrad’s interest in gerontology began early in life
'When I look at an older adult, my brain sees them as a younger person. I think, wow, this person has a whole history,' said Victoria Adshade, now in her third year of honours Health Studies and Gerontology.
Victoria Adshade can trace her interest in gerontology from the time she was five years old.
“My mother is a nurse and I would go with her to the seniors’ residences she worked in,” said Adshade, whose mother recalls that five-year-old Victoria would immediately engage with the residents. “I just loved coming to work with my mother, because I had so many friends.”
She’s now a McMaster undergraduate in her third year of honours Health Studies and Gerontology. Her affinity for older adults came naturally, as her grandparents lived next door all her life. She also volunteered in high school, helping to organize Christmas dinners for seniors.
So, when it came time to choose what to study at university, the choice was clear. “I had spent all my life being around older adults and having such fun with them,” said Adshade. So far, she’s studied everything from big pharma to religion to narrative therapy. “The great thing about being an undergrad is opening your mind to so many things.”
Adshade is now completing a 40-hour field experience with Shalom Village in Hamilton. Students write their own learning objectives, seek out a placement that will allow them to meet those objectives, and then write a paper on the experience. Adshade plans to work with Alzheimer’s patients and continue on to complete a master’s.
“I’m so happy to have chosen this program, because the students and faculty in Health Studies and Gerontology are amazing,” said Adshade, who emphasizes how important it is for undergraduates to get out and volunteer in the community.
Fittingly, she is also the 2014-15 recipient of a scholarship from the McMaster University Retirees Association (MURA). “I’m incredibly grateful to have received the scholarship,” she said. “MURA has made my third year one to remember!”
McMaster University programs and initiatives related to the study of aging include:
Department of Health, Aging and Society in the Faculty of Social Sciences:
Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging
The TAPESTRY Project (Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality)
