About Advanced Gerontological Education

What is the AGE?

The AGE is a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides a variety of educational products to complete our mission of "enhancing the care of older adults by learning together."

History of the AGE

Founded in 1997 as a cooperative under the name the Continuing Gerontological Education Cooperative (CGEC), after consultation with community stakeholders and supported by the Educational Centre for Aging and Health, the organization became incorporated as a social enterprise under the new name Advanced Gerontological Education (AGE) in May of 2010.  Since inception the organization has continually evolved to meet the changing educational needs within the gerontological care community.

What is the mandate, principles and values of the AGE?

The mandate of the AGE is to identify the learning needs of health care and social service workers who care for older adults accessing services offered by the care sector in the Hamilton community and across Canada.

The principles of the AGE are:

• To promote an environment that supports the integration of service education and research;
• To support collaboration between disciplines between service sectors and between service and educational settings; and,
• To develop programs and resources that:
  • Are consumer driven;
  • Are clinically relevant;
  • Are evidence based and accessible;
  • Use adult learning principles; and,
  • Use appropriate evaluation mechanisms.

The values of the AGE are:

We believe:

• In providing learning and education that is based on best practices, is evidence-based, responsive to the needs of the consumers of our services and is focused on applied practice, making learning a reality;
• In working collaboratively with the community to ensure standards of quality and education for those caring for older persons;
• In creating an environment that promotes respect, compassion, honesty, sensitivity, fairness and trust;
• In providing learning that will be outreach focused, accessible and affordable to all interested consumers and the community;
• In the value of volunteerism;
• In community enrichment through partnerships; and,
• In quality service and fiscal responsibility.

What is unique about the AGE?

The AGE promotes the community’s capacity to ensure quality care for older adults.  The educational programs provided by the AGE are both reactive and proactive.  Through our Gentle Persuasive Approaches to Dementia Care (GPA) program our coaches train front-line staff non-violent defensive strategies to deal with persons suffering from various forms of dementia  that exhibit responsive behaviours, as well as teaching those staff proactive techniques to prevent future responsive behaviours from those in their care.

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