by Beth Arsenault

Bill Randall, a professor of gerontology at Saint Thomas University, has a real passion for storytelling – so much so that he brings his love of narrative to the academic sphere.

Growing up in Harvey Station, he spent many afternoons listening to his father, a United Church of Canada minister with a real knack for story-telling, turn the most benign circumstance into an engrossing yarn that grabs the attention and imaginations of young and old alike.
After graduating, Bill went off to college in pursuit of higher education. He tried his hand at graduate studies but felt he needed more life experience to do his studies justice. He decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and entered parish ministry. After ten years of serving and listening to stories told by the people living in various Canadian towns, he decided to return to his story-listening roots and pursued a doctorate in narrative studies. His life experiences all greatly assisted in shaping his main argument: human beings don’t just have stories or the ability to tell them, but rather we are stories.

“There are certain narratives we like to tell about ourselves,” says Bill while sipping a Tim Horton’s coffee. “It’s in their retelling that we fell connected, uplifted, stronger, and have a better send of Self.”

Open to opportunities and collaborations, Bill found his way back to New Brunswick as Saint Thomas’ visiting chair in gerontology. What started out as a 4-month residency, eventually turned into a full-time position to which Bill continues to explore his love of narrative from the gerontology perspective.

Narrative gerontology is best understood as lens through which to view the aging process; a unique way of seeing life as story and what aging involves.”

Narrative Care, an important facet of the aging journey, is one very important way that healthcare and long term care professionals can administer person-centred care to seniors visiting clinics or residing in nursing homes. Those who attentively listen can learn much about those in their care through the stories they tell.

“Narrative care is so important because our stories shape our identity, values, briefs, and our relationships with other,” continues Bill. “Our stories are what make us fully human.”

It’s through our personal stories that we make sense of our unique and particular path through life. As such, narrative care is the heart from which all other types of care (dietary, medical, physical) stem, as it honours the complexity of our stories, which in turn provide meaning and make us who we are.

*Interested in learning more? Bill is more than happy to chat about narrative activities. You can also listen to him on CBC Ideas podcast “Aging by the Book”. Email: brandall@stu.ca
Beth Arsenault, BScF, BA
Collaborative for Healthy Aging and Care / Collectif pour le vieillissement en santé et soins

By Beth Arsenault

This article was written in the Fall 2016 Edition of Collaboration for Healthy Aging and Care. SeniorAction, formerly Adagio-seniors connects all who are interested in the Aging process with the intention of broadening our cultural understanding of the multiple facets of Aging. SeniorAction is dedicated to presenting Aging as a period of endless possibilities.

I had the opportunity to chat with Jeanne Brideau to learn more about SeniorAction/Adagio-Seniors . Please read our exchange below.

What is your role with SeniorAction/Adagio-Seniors?
I am the initiator of this social project which aims to celebrate the privilege of Aging. Seniors are the salt of the earth, the guardians of our country’s values and traditions. Seniors are the bounty of harvest, the dispensers of wisdom and experience. We, the SeniorAction/Adagio-seniors Team, wish to highlight the wisdom and beauty of the elders we know and admire.

How did the idea of SeniorAction/Adagio-Seniors transpire?
It came about after accompanying my parents on their aging journey. I was struck by how they aged differently. My mother suffered from a mild form of dementia, but severe enough that she had to leave the family home and be cared for in a residence. My father, on the other hand, lived a very active life and was driving his car preceding the month of his death at the great age of 95.

You recently returned from visiting your daughter in Australia and had the opportunity to interview elders while traveling in Vietnam.
Yes, and it’s one of the many special moments in my life. I traveled solo the length of the country from Ho Chi Minh City to the Sapa mountain range that borders with China. The Vietnamese are a friendly people who seize every opportunity to practice their English language skills. It was in the nation’s capital of Hanoi where I met Nguyen Le Hoai An and Dao Thuy Linh, two high school students wanting to practice their English, and who made it possible to chat with seniors. All three of us were blown away by our chance interviews along Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

Were there any particular seniors whose stories stood out or touched you?
One was 84 year old photographer Quang Phung who has been taking photos since 1972 and witnessed and captured many things through the camera and the lens of experience – war and famine, but also the richness of the lives of those who survived. He has been capturing these moments so future generations know and understand from whence they came.

I was especially touched by an elderly grandmother who was responsible for the upbringing of her grandchildren. There are very little government social supports in Vietnam, so as the end of the month draws near she can be found selling chocolate bars and bottled water under a tree. Those who frequent the lake know her well and purchase items so she can feed her family. Community social supports are alive and well in Vietnam.

What did their stories convey about the culture of aging in Vietnam?
In their lifetime, Vietnamese seniors have experienced wars, famine and the reconstruction of their country. They are grateful for the little they have, they strive to keep fit, and many still work. In our privileged, peaceful country we could perhaps connect more frequently with feelings of gratitude as well as pride in our aging bodies. It seems to me that seniors in Vietnam are proud – of their country, their families, and of lives lived. Are Canadians proud of their long life, proud of their role in building the country we know, proud of their grey hair and wrinkled hands? These are the types of questions I ask and one reason for initiating Adagio-seniors.

So it sounds like you are a lot of the big questions in hopes to shift the cultural paradigm around aging.

The paradigm is changing. It’s so obvious. In the last five years alone, we have seen seniors portrayed in a positive light, whether it’s on TV, in movies or the papers. But we, as seniors, cannot be spectators and expect the shift to come from outside. Why are we waiting for government or NGOs to bring about change? We, as New Brunswick Seniors, need to put aside our humble nature and be active participants in this important dialogue.

I am much like a grain of sand, many grains of sand become a beach. The change we are seeking needs to come from all of us – young and old.

For more information on SeniorAction and their programming, please contact Jeanne Brideau,