The keynote address, “Citizens until the End of Their Lives” given by Dr. Malcolm Payne presented a theory of aging that emerged from a career in social work, connecting ideas of citizenship and aging. Dr. Payne’s theorization began with the idea that older people are citizens.
Heather McNeil

Heather McNeil
Heather McNeil is a PhD candidate in the University of Waterloo’s Health, Aging, and Well-being program. As research associate with the GHS Group Heather co-created the Seniors Helping as Research Partners (SHARP) group to build meaningful partnerships with older adults and caregivers in the community. She has expertise in patient and community engagement, health innovation for older adults, patient experience, mixed methods, and knowledge translation and exchange. Her dissertation, The ECO TECH project, funded through the Canadian Network Centre of Excellence, AGE-WELL (http://agewell-nce.ca/), focuses on the engagement of older adults and their caregivers in regional health innovation ecosystems. This project is nested within the DRiVE project (http://agewell-nce.ca/age-well-core-research-projects#wp72) led by Dr. Josephine McMurray. Heather is passionate about improving quality of life for older adults and is interested in how innovation can support this.