Together we can change the conversation about aging, disability, and long-term care.
My books, articles, films, and talks spark conversation and introduce people to new ideas about aging, disability and health. I track how imagination affects everyday life, and vice versa, while I conduct research on literature, cinema, and on the ground.
Books
From Old Woman to Older Women: Contemporary Culture and Women’s Narratives
Book From Old Woman to Older Women: Contemporary Culture and Women’s Narratives Sally Chivers provides a fascinating look at and challenge to how North American popular culture has portrayed old age as a time of disease, decline, and death. Within contemporary Canadian literary and film production, a tradition of articulate central older female characters challenges …
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The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film
Book The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film The book is a much-needed exploration of the projection of disability on film combined with a much-needed rethinking of hierarchies of difference. The editors turned to the existing corpus of disability theory with its impressive insights about the social and cultural mediation of disabled bodies. They then …
The Silvering Screen: Old Age and Disability in Cinema
Book The Silvering Screen: Old Age and Disability in Cinema Popular films have always included older characters, but until about the turn of the millenium, old age usually played a supporting role onscreen. As the Baby Boomer population hits retirement, an explosion of films with aging as a central theme demands attention. The Silvering Screen brings …
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Care Home Stories: Aging, Disability, and Long-Term Residential Care
Book Care Home Stories: Aging, Disability, and Long-Term Residential Care The “nursing home” deserves a closer look as something beyond a personal, social, and political failure, especially if we want to improve it. This book shares and analyzes stories told from within care homes: by workers, by residents, and by visitors as well as family …
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Videos
Cozy
Cozy An anguished cry against the neoliberal demands of university life from a privileged but painful position.
Magic Numbers
Magic Numbers A wry look at my everyday experiences of appearing eternally youthful on the outside while actually aging rapidly under the surface.
Exploring Death Friendliness
Exploring Death Friendliness In the context of age-friendly communities where the focus is on active living, this video invites viewers to think about the role that death plays in their lives and their communities.
A Story of Grief, Connection, and Community
A Story of Grief, Connection and Community From our research on age-friendly communities, this video shares a story of a woman who became isolated while grieving the loss of her husband. We invite you to consider the role grief plays in our lives, particularly the lives of older adults, and how important connection and community are to the grieving process.
Love and Death in the Time of COVID
Love and Death in the Time of COVID The COVID 19 pandemic has reminded us of the importance of social relationships. This video explores the tension between preventing death within nursing homes and the need to foster connection between residents and their loved ones. This video invites viewers to ask questions about the relationship between love and death.
What does age-friendly mean to you
What does age-friendly mean to you? We asked people at a Toronto seniors centre what age friendly means to them. This is what they said.
Projects
Imagine Aging
PROJECT Imagine Aging MORE INFO Dr. Sally Chivers is Associate Director and leads the digital story strategy for the project. How do gender and culture matter in creating age-friendly communities? With a focus on “communities within communities,” our research team seeks promising practices that ensure older adults not only maintain healthy active lives but also …
Challenging the “Nursing Home Specter” in the Age of Austerity
PROJECT Challenging the “Nursing Home Specter” in the Age of Austerity Dr. Sally Chivers is the Principal and Sole Investigator of this project. How does terror about nursing home care affect the lives of older adults who are trying to make care decisions under austerity? Taking the phrase “nursing home specter” from Betty Friedan, my …
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Medical Assistance in Dying: Ethical and Policy issues in Southern Rural Alberta
PROJECT Medical Assistance in Dying: Ethical and Policy issues in Southern Rural Alberta Dr. Sally Chivers is Co-Investigator on this project, working on a media scan and digital stories. How does Medical Assistance in Dying work differently in rural settings? Since Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) presents distinct ethical issues in rural settings, our research …
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Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life
PROJECT Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life MORE INFO Dr. Sally Chivers is Co-Investigator on the project. What changes when artists and academics work together to centre the art, voices, and self-representations of people too often pushed to the side? Bodies in Translation supports collaborations among artists and academics that put …
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Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care: An International Study of Promising Practices
PROJECT Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care: An International Study of Promising Practices MORE INFO Dr. Sally Chivers was Co-Investigator and theme lead of Approaches to Care. How can we re-imagine long-term residential care by learning from and with other countries to identify promising practices for thinking about, planning, and organizing care? Our collaborative interdisciplinary, international research …
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Research by Sally Chivers is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.