Human Resources committee  I think it's a catch-22. Most of the programs internationally actually have problems surviving. That's just reality because of the fact that right now they are not accredited programs. They're not considered to be health care professionals, so it's very difficult for graduates of the programs, three-year and four-year programs, to find employment in long-term care and so on.

Human Resources committee  No, that's a different story. Medical professionals who study aging are geriatricians. They are social science programs, gerontology. It's not a medical program. It's a social science, usually, so the graduates would learn about what the aging process is, except for diseases. I mean, they learn them but they're not medical—

Human Resources committee  Many go into long-term care, not-for-profit organizations of aging, ministry offices, Statistics Canada, private—what do you call somebody who creates their own kind of company, I can't think of the word—entrepreneurships.

Human Resources committee  Yes, there's a demand. Everybody says we need more people who have knowledge in gerontology, but then on the other hand, many people can't employ them because they're not registered. They're not regulated. It's very difficult for employers to see what a gerontologist or graduate of a program can do.

Human Resources committee  There are two different things. One is we need to educate specialists, people who are, for instance, nurses, social workers, and so on, more on gerontology and geriatrics. That's one point. The other point is that we do need more specialists, gerontologists, who can provide services other than the ones offered by health care providers.

Human Resources committee  No.

Human Resources committee  Doctors don't collaborate. It's not the gerontologists' fault.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I think it's especially women, older women more than men.

Human Resources committee  Well, it depends on whether they are dependent on their family members or not, from a physical perspective. If they are unhealthy and they have family members who can take care of them, through the tax benefits, they would have an option that the younger generation can take care of them.

Human Resources committee  There are volunteers who do home visits and could provide home visits to those older adults. I think that also an opportunity might be, now I forgot the name, but the centres—I am an immigrant too—when someone can meet with people from their own background, for instance. For me, it would be someone from Germany to speak to.

Human Resources committee  Yes, please.

Human Resources committee  Do you mean including the adults in the curriculum?

Human Resources committee  We do that already. I think it's very important because we need to ask all the adults what they want. We can't just assume we know what they want and how they age. I'm not sure what your question is. I'm familiar with new horizons, but....

Human Resources committee  Yes, for sure. I think that older adults today want to be involved. They want to be asked to provide whatever they can, and they often don't need to be paid. However, especially when they are caregivers for their loved ones, there needs to be some kind of help for them so they can do that volunteer work.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. Excuse my accent. I'm German, so if you don't understand me, please ask. I thought of talking about aging and older adults from a different perspective. I thought it important to point out that the majority of older adults today are healthy and that has an impact, of course, on how we view and what kind of policies we introduce to older adults that we will have in the next couple of decades.