Gerontological Care Matters: A Snapshot of Early Programs in Calgary

Last month I posted an article about Addressing Ageism in Research, Education and the Community. Centre on Aging, University of Calgary. 

Learning about the Centre  on Aging at a presentation for CALL  Café stimulated personal reflections on my career. Almost four decades ago I (author) was privileged to be involved with practitioners and educators who led the way in the development of geriatric nursing practice and interdisciplinary education in Calgary. I reached out to several colleagues and asked them to reminisce with me about their contributions to the development of Geriatric/Gerontological Nursing in Calgary.

Our stories do not provide a definitive history; just a snapshot of some people and programs that responded to the need for specialized nursing care for an aging population. Some factual details such as dates may be fuzzy as we are drawing on memories that are 40 years old. But what our recollections had in common were the challenges and rewards of promoting Geriatric/Gerontological Nursing and Interdisciplinary Education. Why? Because nursing care of older adults is not intuitive; it is a specialized area of practice and each of us, in our own areas, helped to develop it.

Geriatrics: an Overlooked Specialty

Despite the rapidly growing population of older adults in Canada (and the world) the field of geriatrics was overlooked as a specialty in medicine and nursing. There were many reasons; among them -

• Ageist belief that health problems were a natural part of aging, not as conditions that could be treated and improved.

An 82-year old man goes to his doctor and says that his left knee really hurts. He can barely walk. The doctor replies : "Well, what do you expect at your age?" The man replies: "My right knee -- which is the same age and just fine."

• Less professional prestige when compared with high-technology or surgical specialties.
• Most programs and funding focused on short, procedure-based treatments. The complex and multi-health needs of seniors did not fit this model.

"While there was some awareness that health care providers needed special knowledge and skills to care for an aging population, it would be fair to say this idea took some time to really take hold: aging was far from a 'sexy’ subject and health professional program curricula had little room for more content. And while media and the general population were aware of the upcoming baby-boom, that seemed a long way off." Jean Miller

Advancements in the 1980s

The development of geriatrics as a recognized specialty in medicine and gerontological nursing progressed slowly, gaining more attention and momentum in the 1980's.

For example, the Canadian Gerontological Nursing Association (CGNA) was established in the early 1980s, creating a unified voice to advance education, research, standards, and advocacy in gerontological nursing across Canada. These standards helped define competencies in areas such as comprehensive geriatric assessment, health promotion, dementia care, end-of-life care, interprofessional collaboration, and advocacy for older adults. The CGNA’s scholarly journal, Perspectives, supports dissemination of Canadian research, clinical innovations, and policy analysis in gerontological nursing.

Following advocacy by researchers and physicians concerning the health needs of an aging population, geriatric medicine was formally recognized as a medical subspecialty in 1981 by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. This resulted in a change in education of physicians and the adoption of interdisciplinary teams that focused on functional health, independence and quality of life of older people.

At the same time other organizations and programs were initiated. 

• Alberta Association on Gerontology (AAG), 1980, brought health professionals, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders together to promote research and education.
• Alberta Gerontological Nurses Association AGNA), 1981 The central purpose of AGNA is to bring together nurses who are interested in gerontology and whose intent is to improve the health, wellness and quality of life of older adults.
• Alberta Centre on Aging, 1982, established at the University of Alberta to promote interdisciplinary research on aging and to support collaboration among scholars in medicine, social sciences, and rehabilitation sciences.
• Interdisciplinary Gerontology Certificate Program, 1987 (at Mount Royal College/University - described below).
• SARG was established at the Calgary District Hospital Group (described below).
• The Brenda Strafford Foundation Chair in Geriatric Medicine, 1987 established at the University of Calgary, with Dr. David Hogan, Professor of Medicine.

With the increasing appreciation of geriatrics/gerontology as a specialized field of practice several nursing faculty offered continuing education workshops through their respective institutions. Jean Miller from Mount Royal College and Sandi Hirst  from the University of Calgary ran workshops on caring for older adults, and Sharon Moore  (Mental Health Program Coordinator, MRC) offered workshops in geriatric mental health.

Interdisciplinary Education

One of the key features of all gerontological care is that it is interdisciplinary; many professionals work together to combine their expertise in assessment, treatment/intervention and discharge planning to ensure the best outcomes for an older adult.

Interdisciplinary Gerontology Certificate Program  Mount Royal College

In 1987 Mount Royal College (now University) established an Interdisciplinary Gerontology Certificate Program. I had a conversation with Jean Miller, the first Program Coordinator.

I asked Jean to reflect on the origins and highlights of the program.

"The program was developed for health professionals interested in or working with older adults in a variety of settings. In order for the program to be accessible to working adults it was offered by distance education; This was a new venture for traditional educational institutions such as Mount Royal College (MRC). The certificate programs used low-tech delivery methods: printed course outlines; regular phone contact between students and instructors; and on-site workshop days. The high-tech delivery methods we have today had not yet been developed."

"One of the hallmarks of gerontological care is its interdisciplinary nature. In order to meet the complex needs of older adults’ professionals from a variety of backgrounds (e.g. physiotherapy, social work, geriatricians, and recreation therapists) work together to support and meet the needs of seniors and their families. Given the importance of teamwork, the gerontology program was intentionally developed as an interdisciplinary program. Course content drew from interdisciplinary gerontological knowledge, and learning activities stressed and provided for interdisciplinary learning."

Studies in Aging Program - MRC

In 2000 the program name was changed to a post-diploma/post-degree program called Studies in Aging and Dianne McDermid was the Program Coordinator. The program was designed for professionals in both healthcare and the community whose work could impact the health and quality of life of older adults. Healthcare disciplines included nurses, physiotherapists, recreation therapists, occupational therapists, and those in the extended community such as marketers, developers, and business personnel who provided services to older adults.

Students who completed the program received a post-basic Certificate in Studies in Aging.

I had a conversation with Dianne McDermid.

"The Studies in Aging program took a positive view to aging, focusing on older adults’ strengths and included strategies that the student could implement in their practice or work settings to support older adults to live well." 

Dianne summarized some highlights and accomplishments:

• Writing and publishing journal and newspaper articles on healthy aging, aging in place, needs of older adults in a variety of housing situations (home, assisted living, long term care, hospital);
• Engaging in community-sponsored, age-related committees—Eldernet, Age Friendly Calgary;
• Providing input into City of Calgary Planning Department’s future plans for Calgary improvement/development;
• Co-founding and serving as an early president on two societies that continue to organize workshops targeted at older adults in the community—Calgary Seniors Housing Forum, and Creative Aging Calgary; and
• Participating in social service focus groups soliciting information regarding seniors needs.

For several years, the program offered a Gerontology Institute; a 5-day educational event with the goal of improving participant’s understanding of specific topic areas and improving their skills in addressing some of the common issues experienced by older adults. (NOTE: as mentioned later, SARG was aligned with this program, providing speakers with clinical expertise and sending staff from all disciplines.)

Another accomplishment was a 6-part video series which was professionally developed and aired on ACCESS TV multiple times. The series , titled A New Look at Aging, focused on content from each of the required courses in the program. (See Description)

The series included interviews with many local, provincial and national experts. Many seniors, young and old, shared their views and experiences. Dianne McDermid was the content consultant for the program

Geriatric Mental Health

One of the courses in the Studies in Aging program focused on Geriatric Mental Health, a field of practice that had been largely ignored. At that time, mental health problems in older adults were too often dismissed as a normal part of aging.

I asked Sharon Moore, Registered Nurse and Registered Psychologist, how she addressed the need for geriatric mental health education.

"I travelled to the University of Southern California for graduate study and to engage in clinical practicum work with leaders in the field of geriatric mental health because there were no programs in Alberta at that time. These experiences over two years provided a foundation for the development of educational courses and practicum work in both the Advanced Studies in Mental Health and the Interdisciplinary Studies in Aging programs at Mount Royal College in the mid and late 1980’s."

"We learned that mental health problems are not a normal part of aging and older adults who experienced these problems often faced triple jeopardy — old, sad and feeling hopeless. During those years, older adults had one of the highest suicide rates in Canada. Clearly there was a need to increase awareness and education regarding mental health concerns in later life."

Sharon reflected on an anecdote. 

I am reminded of a lecture I heard many years ago by a geriatric psychiatrist out of Chicago. He was interviewing an 86 year-old gentleman who was depressed and he asked him “and what did you used to be”? The older gentleman looked at the psychiatrist and rather haughtily replied “I still am”. A poignant example that older adults “still are” and want to be seen, recognized and valued for who they are and not just who they “used to be”.

Geriatric Nursing

Geriatric nursing is a specialized area of nursing, practiced by registered nurses with specialized education to care for older adults. They provide hands-on care, monitor health changes, prevent complications, educate families, and advocate for patient safety and dignity.

Southern Alberta Regional Geriatric Centre (SARG)

In the late 1980's as more attention was being given to geriatrics the Calgary District Hospital Group decided to create a regional centre for geriatric care. The group included three hospitals; Holy Cross Hospital, Rockyview General Hospital and the Colonel Belcher Hospital (CBH). Two of these were full service including ER while the Colonel Belcher offered medical and some surgical care as well as long-term care of Veterans.

This decision required many changes; foremost of these were the changes in services at the CBH. All surgical programs were transferred to the other hospitals. The medical units were going to focus exclusively on geriatric care that would provide care for older adults with multiple or complex medical problems.

Geriatric care addresses medical, functional, cognitive, emotional, and social needs rather than treating isolated diseases. Care plans consider mobility, nutrition, mental health, medication use, housing, and family supports.

There were many individuals involved in the development of the geriatric programs; I will focus on the contributions of two colleagues.

Lu Farkas was hired because of her long-time commitments and contributions to the care of older adults. Since her first job in a nursing home, Lu was passionate about making changes in the delivery of care and services to "make older people feel like they mattered." Lu campaigned to improve the education of all staff in continuing care. With Sandi Hirst, Jean Miller, Barb Metcalf, Sharon Moore and Carole Lynne LeNavenec she co-founded the Alberta Gerontological Nurses Association (AGNA) in 1981.

I asked Lu about her priorities when she took the position of Senior Administrator.

"My first priority was to establish a Geriatric Assessment and Rehabilitation Program (GARP). This was an inpatient program with an interdisciplinary team that would assess and treat seniors with complex medical problems. Many seniors who were admitted for medical or surgical intervention of an acute problem required more than just time to recover. They needed an integrated approach that provided restorative and rehabilitative care that focused on their ability to return to their own home or to move to an appropriate alternative living option."

Another colleague, Edythe Huffman - Edie, was hired to lead the many changes that management and staff would need to make to bring the new programming to reality. While Lu led the way with the vision of what needed to be done, Edie provided a process of how to get it done. Edie was known for her quiet and effective leadership and management skills.

In her reflections about the challenges, Edie shared:

"Initially I wondered why I was recruited into a Geriatric program when my career had focused on Obstetrics. Then I realized I was facing similar challenges that I had when I introduced 'Mother-Baby Care'.

First and foremost, I knew that establishing these new programs would require a balance of motivating staff and management to move forward while also acknowledging some resistance that arose out of anxiety and uncertainty."

Edie added

"I knew we were making progress in creating geriatric care when we admitted a very complex patient and almost the entire interdisciplinary team got involved. Despite early predications that this lady would need long-term care -- she was discharged to her home with family and community support."

I (author) was hired as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) to facilitate the education of nursing staff to become confident and competent in providing geriatric nursing care. I held this position from 1988 - 1995.

Some of the activities included: 

• consulting with staff and the interdisciplinary team on specific situations involving patients and/or families on eight medical units.
• designing and conducting an in-service program called Exploring Geriatric Nursing that was offered several times a year.
• participating with MRC in the Gerontology Institute. This was a week-long intensive program focused on an interdisciplinary approach to the mental, physical, emotional and social health of seniors. The hospitals provided many speakers for the program.

Like my colleagues, I reflected on those early days when we were fighting ageism in healthcare and some of the negative stereotypes held about geriatric nursing. 

"I knew that we had made real progress in establishing a culture of geriatric care in the hospital when I was asked to consult on patient care on a surgical unit. Subsequently, the staff asked for in-service education on recognizing and managing post-op delirium in their older patients. Until then, only staff on the eight medical units had requested consultation and been given opportunities for education." Maureen Osis

Gerontological Nursing

Calgary healthcare settings have been fortunate to have some nursing pioneers who devoted their careers to the development of Gerontological Nursing.

Gerontological nursing is defined as a specialized field of nursing focused on the care of older adults, involving various roles across healthcare settings such as acute care, continuing care settings, and in-home/community health programs.

I asked two colleagues to describe their roles in the development of Gerontological Nursing within Calgary and area.  Here is what Barbara Metcalf and Sandra Hirst said about Gerontological Nursing.

Concurrent with the educational initiatives at MRC and the development of the SARG programs, Barbara Metcalf assumed a role as a Gerontological CNS.

Barbara Metcalf talked about her role as a Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist, a position funded by Alberta Learning for three years.

"The funding of a Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist position by Alberta Learning was significant in contributing to the expertise of nurses caring for older adults. The purpose of this unique role was to facilitate the gerontological education of nurses in a wide range of practice settings in southern Alberta. The goal was to assist in bridging the gap between education and practice, i.e. encouraging healthcare management and professional practitioners to recognize that geriatric/gerontological nursing is a specialty area requiring unique knowledge and skills.

Older adults receive nursing care in a wide variety of settings: acute care, long term care, supportive living settings, and at home. One of the key components of this role involved travel to multiple settings throughout southern Alberta e.g. Calgary, Medicine Hat, Brooks, Claresholm, Red Deer, Lethbridge and others. Topics frequently requested included such areas as normal aging changes, psychosocial needs, mental health care, dementia care, fall prevention, family care, spiritual needs, end of life and palliative care."

Barb shared feedback from staff that attended the educational sessions.

"Staff appreciated and benefitted from these sessions - offered in their own practice settings. They felt more confident in caring for older adults, a significant and important outcome. It was a privilege to meet so many nurses and other professionals committed to caring for older adults and their families - a highlight resulting from this position."

I asked Sandi Hirst to share her memories of being the Director of the Brenda Strafford Centre for Excellence in Gerontological Nursing at the University of Calgary.

Sandra Hirst, Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary, has worked with and advocated for older adults throughout her career. In particular, she has focused on education of nurses to prepare them to work with the growing aging population. Her bio attests to her contributions to Gerontological Nursing at the local, provincial, national and international level.

"I have worked with and for older adults for most of my nursing career. I saw my role emerging from the intersection of education, practice, research, and advocacy—each with its own expectations—and the work was rarely tidy. One of my ongoing challenges was visibility. Nursing colleagues working with older adults routinely support older adults in managing their often-complex health issues, yet this work is often not recognized as specialist or scholarly, or even a priority in nursing education. Caring for older adults, despite its growing importance within our society, often competed with more acute, technology-focused, or disease-specific priorities within nursing education and research.

Yet change is happening! I served as Director of the Brenda Strafford Centre for Excellence in Gerontological Nursing at the University of Calgary. My work frequently involved conversations with faculty and university colleagues whose primary teaching or research interests lay in other areas. These interactions gave me opportunities to demonstrate how understanding the aging process and approaches to the care of older adults enriched nursing education more broadly, by strengthening approaches to ethical dilemmas, exploring diverse communication strategies, and addressing continuity of care requirements across the lifespan.

In my leadership roles, such as the Director of the Centre, I’ve come to see advocacy for older adults not as speaking on their behalf, but as standing with them. I’ve tried to use whatever influence comes with my leadership to create space for older adults’ voices—to listen carefully and to reflect upon the accuracy of my own beliefs.

The rewards were considerable. I grew personally in my understanding of myself as a nurse committed to supporting older adults and the nurses who work with them. Seeing students and nursing colleagues gain confidence in their expertise and recognize the value of their insights was deeply satisfying. There was also reward in observing how gerontological perspectives reshaped conversations. Education that emphasized aging, personhood, and context helped reframe care challenges and supported more compassionate nursing practice. These changes mattered for nurses but also for older adults and their families. One cannot nurse an older adult without understanding the family in all its diverse forms.

Ultimately, directing the Centre offered me the privilege of contributing to work with clear social significance. As our population ages, how we prepare nurses to care for older adults speaks to our collective values as a society. But perhaps more importantly, it encourages us to step back and take direction from those we serve, older adults themselves. "

Reflection from Jean MIller

It was my privilege to be involved in gerontological education, and in particular the development of the Interdisciplinary Gerontology Certificate Program at Mount Royal College.

"To those who studied in the Interdisciplinary Gerontology Certificate Program at MRC, thank you for your commitment to the care of the elderly. You undoubtedly made a difference in their lives, and quite likely in the lives of those who followed. You are among those that helped lay the foundation for gerontological education in Alberta. You lit a torch that we know is still burning. " Jean Miller

In Memoriam

D. E. Huffman 1940-2026

In our first conversation, Edie Huffman commented that it was good that I was "collecting these memories before they are lost."  Her words were prophetic. 

Shortly after, Edie was admitted to hospital. Sadly, she did not recover and passed on March 24, 2026.

I will fondly hold one memory that she shared. Because her career had focused on Maternal-Child care, Edie wanted to prepare for her new role in SARG. She attended a week-long intensive program in Geriatric Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan. When she returned she said that she felt better prepared to lead nursing in patient care from "the womb to the tomb."

I pay tribute to her lifelong contributions to both the profession of nursing and to many, many individual nurses in their careers.

I thank each of my colleagues who willingly shared their memories of these early days in promoting geriatric and gerontological nursing. Collectively we took a trip down memory lane and shared some pride in what we accomplished.

Author

Maureen Osis

Maureen retired from her career -- first as a Gerontological Nurse and then a Marriage/Family Therapist in private practice working with mid-life and older adults. Maureen has published numerous articles and books, related to her professions. She is a member of CALL because she is passionate about learning. She is a volunteer with CALL, doing social media and the primary author of the Blog, because she likes to face new challenges.

Contributing Authors

To read the bios of the contributing authors, download the file.

Jean Miller (return)

Dianne McDermid (return)

Sharon Moore  (return)

Lu Farkas (return)

Edythe Huffman (return)

Maureen Osis (return)

Barbara Metcalf (return)

Sandi Hirst (return)

Want to join a community of lifelong learners?

Learn more about CALL.