[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":195},["ShallowReactive",2],{"activist-section-olive-bryanton-practising-social-activism":3,"activist-olive-bryanton":99},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":84,"extension":91,"meta":92,"navigation":93,"oldPath":94,"path":95,"seo":96,"stem":97,"__hash__":98},"activistSections\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002F02.practising-social-activism.md","Practising Social Activism",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":83},"minimark",[9,14,18,21,27,31,36,39,42,46,49,52,55,60,64,69,80],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"entitling-seniors","Entitling seniors",[15,16,17],"p",{},"Olive's experience has been that seniors must be supported to take their needs seriously, safeguard their interests, and maintain self-respect—all of which entails a shift in how they frame their rights and value their own lives. For example, getting a proper pension is a right, says Olive, and not a privilege to be donated by a charitable agency to a pathetically grateful elderly person. Another example was the watershed moment of an older person having to give up a car, which, instead of sounding like a deprivation, could be re-framed as a smart, adaptive decision that would enhance safety at the same time as reducing effort and cost.",[15,19,20],{},"Many older people who have lived on subsistence incomes believe that they become rich, by contrast, when they start receiving Old Age Security. While they may not get all of what they need, they will not complain if they compare themselves to generations before Old Age Security. Olive believes that this kind of comparing obscures understanding of rights and entitlements. Getting seniors to value their experiential learning from paid and unpaid work can also be difficult because many think that skills learned in one context are not transferable to another; or they underestimate their capacity for learning new skills effectively.",[22,23,24],"blockquote",{},[15,25,26],{},"It's a real challenge to help people understand their potential! At the Seniors' Centre, we would be looking for board members or chairpersons, and people would say \"Oh no, oh no, I couldn't do that!\" And then you finally talk them into it and the next thing you know they are on the Board and making all the decisions. Finally they realize, \"Oh yes, I do have a lot to offer and other people respect me because I am willing to take on responsibilities and help others\".",[10,28,30],{"id":29},"working-with-government","Working with government",[22,32,33],{},[15,34,35],{},"Governments don't understand aging, they don't understand the cost of being an older person.",[15,37,38],{},"Governments also reflect negative social attitudes toward seniors by underestimating their inherent capabilities as well as the possibilities of staying engaged in their communities. One issue that Olive has lobbied for is alternative modes of transport to help non-driving seniors to engage in community activities. She observes that it is unrealistic to assume that family and friends are always available for transporting older adults, who themselves may feel reluctant to ask for help.",[15,40,41],{},"Seniors provide one another with significant care-giving, Olive says, which is a form of savings that could be measured in healthcare dollars in a climate where seniors are unfairly depicted as a drain on the system. Also, government fails to acknowledge the in-kind contributions that seniors make to their families and communities through volunteering, and the financial contributions they make to charities.",[10,43,45],{"id":44},"lobby-educate-and-lobby-again","Lobby, educate and lobby again",[15,47,48],{},"Olive has learned that the lobbying and educating of government must take account of a political mind-set that is timed to re-election plans rather than longer-term strategic thinking. Also, politicians may not understand the daily realities of seniors' lives.",[15,50,51],{},"For Olive, lobbying for change requires carefully planned, continuous education because she has learned that one-time messages are ineffective. A judicious use of facts (statistics and other research), projections, and human-interest stories, if astutely managed, will be most effective. Always, the purpose must be to provide information in a form that will help the politician understand the lived experiences of older people.",[15,53,54],{},"Strategic to successful lobbying is the leverage of money matters, and activists must be prepared to address how government can save money in the longer term.",[22,56,57],{},[15,58,59],{},"Money is the bottom line. You have to present them with real facts that are going to show that in the long term, they are going to save money, and this is how they can do it. That's hard to sell to politicians because they only live four years at a time. You also need to work with the people who advise the politicians and tell them what is really happening; educate the civil servants as well.",[10,61,63],{"id":62},"geriatric-healthcare","Geriatric healthcare",[22,65,66],{},[15,67,68],{},"Why can't they understand the value of having a geriatrician in this province?",[15,70,71,72,79],{},"When Olive was Coordinator of the ",[73,74,78],"a",{"href":75,"rel":76},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.peiscf.com\u002Fabout_federation.html",[77],"nofollow","PEI Senior Citizens' Federation",", they mounted a campaign to hire a geriatrician for the province, bringing in an expert from Moncton to meet with the Minister at the time to explain how specialists contributed to community living for seniors as well as helping other physicians. Although the traditional medical contingent of the day was aligned against this proposal, the lobbyists persevered, writing public education articles in the \"Voice for Island Seniors\" newsletter, and at every opportunity, publicly posing the question, \"Why are we the only province in Canada that does not have a geriatrician?\".",[15,81,82],{},"Finally, the province did hire a geriatrician for the Island, but he also had to serve as a consultant to Veterans Affairs Canada and held an appointment as Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University. At present, the Island has only one full-time and one part-time geriatrician. Olive cautions that this cannot possibly meet the healthcare needs of an aging population, pointing out the inequity: adults 65 years and older will soon outnumber the youngest demographic, but the Island has 8 pediatric specialists next to the 1.5 geriatricians. She argues that this is an indication of the relative value placed on seniors and their health.",{"title":84,"searchDepth":85,"depth":85,"links":86},"",2,[87,88,89,90],{"id":12,"depth":85,"text":13},{"id":29,"depth":85,"text":30},{"id":44,"depth":85,"text":45},{"id":62,"depth":85,"text":63},"md",{},true,"\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fpractising-social-activism","\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fpractising-social-activism",{"title":5,"description":84},"activists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002F02.practising-social-activism","_F0VpBh7fR-ze-lWpXHO-emTYCjNszhWxNf0OAX2oMk",{"id":100,"title":101,"body":102,"description":148,"extension":91,"links":149,"meta":159,"navigation":93,"oldPath":160,"path":161,"pictures":162,"portrait":172,"portraitAlt":173,"province":174,"quote":175,"sections":176,"seo":191,"stem":192,"summary":193,"__hash__":194},"activists\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Findex.md","Olive Bryanton",{"type":7,"value":103,"toc":146},[104,113,116,119,122,131,134,143],[15,105,106,107,112],{},"Busy as usual, Olive Bryanton had only been at her University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) office a short time before Liz Burge arrived to interview her. When Liz had been president of the ",[73,108,111],{"href":109,"rel":110},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.stu.ca\u002Fresearch\u002F3rdage",[77],"Third Age Centre"," at St. Thomas University, she had met Olive, who had come to give a talk there. Liz was now eager for an update on Olive's indefatigable activism. What followed were two-and-a-half hours of lively, focused reflection on past and present social challenges.",[15,114,115],{},"Born in 1936, Olive was raised by her grandparents in Kensington, PEI. In 1952, she graduated from grade 10, the highest grade of high school at the time, and worked in Summerside from 1952 to 1956 in retail stores. She married, and between 1955 and 1966 bore five children.",[15,117,118],{},"After attending night school for secretarial skills, Olive went to the Central School of Nursing from 1968 to 1969 and graduated as a Licensed Nursing Assistant. She worked at the PEI Hospital in Obstetrics from 1969 to 1971, and with a medical specialist from 1971 to 1980. For five years in the latter half of the '70s, she owned and managed a small community care facility, which she sold in order to focus more fully on school.",[15,120,121],{},"In 1984, at the age of 47, she received her degree from UPEI with a major in Sociology and a minor in Canadian Studies. From 1984 to 1987, Olive worked for St. John Ambulance as a Healthcare and First Aid Director. It was in the late 1980s that she began to work in earnest on issues related to seniors. In 1988, Olive worked for the PEI Gerontology Association, researching and writing a book on housing options for older adults on PEI. At the same time, she organized a Seniors' Housing Conference with Canada Mortgage and Housing.",[15,123,124,125,130],{},"From 1989 to 2000, Olive served as Coordinator of the PEI Senior Citizens' Federation and founded a newspaper called ",[73,126,129],{"href":127,"rel":128},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.peiscf.com\u002Fvoice_for_island_seniors.html",[77],"Voice for Island Seniors",". In 1992, she began the process of establishing a Seniors' Centre in Charlottetown, which was officially opened in January 1993. Olive served as President of the Seniors' Centre for two years and presently chairs the Education Committee.",[15,132,133],{},"In 1998, the Seniors' College of UPEI was formally launched. The following year, Olive researched and initiated a provincial PEI Seniors' Safety Program, together with the RCMP, the Public Trustee, and Consumer Services—for which she is the current President.",[15,135,136,137,142],{},"Working as Coordinator for the ",[73,138,141],{"href":139,"rel":140},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.upei.ca\u002Fprojects\u002Fcsha",[77],"PEI Centre on Health and Aging"," at UPEI since 2000, Olive's activities range widely from her involvement with the Seniors' Safety Program, to Chair of the Young at Heart Musical Theatre for Seniors, Board of Directors for Community Legal Information Association, and Board of Directors for the United Way of PEI.",[15,144,145],{},"In May 2000, Olive received an Honorary Degree from the University of Prince Edward Island, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). Nine years later she graduated with a Master in Education degree with thesis.",{"title":84,"searchDepth":85,"depth":85,"links":147},[],"Busy as usual, Olive Bryanton had only been at her University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) office a short time before Liz Burge arrived to interview her. When Liz had been president of the Third Age Centre at St. Thomas University, she had met Olive, who had come to give a talk there. Liz was now eager for an update on Olive's indefatigable activism. What followed were two-and-a-half hours of lively, focused reflection on past and present social challenges.",[150,153,156],{"url":151,"title":152},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.theguardian.pe.ca\u002FOpinion\u002FEditorials\u002F2010-10-12\u002Farticle-1840912\u002FThis-scam-can-happen-to-you\u002F1","The Guardian: This scam can happen to you",{"url":154,"title":155},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.cbc.ca\u002Fnews\u002Fstory\u002F2001\u002F02\u002F23\u002Fpei_insurclaim.html","CBC: Older drivers claim age discrimination",{"url":157,"title":158},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.cbc.ca\u002Fnews\u002Fstory\u002F2001\u002F03\u002F09\u002Fseniors_insurance010309.html","CBC: Seniors charged higher rates for being old",{},"\u002Fcontent\u002Folive-bryanton","\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton",[163,166,169],{"image":164,"caption":165},"\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fpicture-1.jpg","Olive Bryanton receives cheque from RCMP officer for funding for the PEI Seniors' Safety Program.",{"image":167,"caption":168},"\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fpicture-2.jpg","Olive Bryanton with participants of Bridging the Generation Gap.",{"image":170,"caption":171},"\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fpicture-3.jpg","Hank Stinson serenades Olive Bryanton with \"I Love the Sardines in Your Hair\". From Young at Heart Theatre Rotary Magazine.","\u002Fimages\u002Factivists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Fportrait.jpg","Portrait of Olive Bryanton.","Prince Edward Island","I’ve always tried to make things more equal for older people and have them recognized as viable citizens in our society, citizens we need. That’s not easy when they don’t see themselves as being necessary to society. It is sad that you can’t appreciate that you have contributed to this society.",[177,180,182,185,188],{"slug":178,"label":179},"forming-her-activism","Forming Her Activism",{"slug":181,"label":5},"practising-social-activism",{"slug":183,"label":184},"projects","Projects",{"slug":186,"label":187},"creating-change-lessons-skills-and-advice","Creating Change: Lessons, Skills and Advice",{"slug":189,"label":190},"last-words","Last Words",{"title":101,"description":148},"activists\u002Folive-bryanton\u002Findex","For over 25 years Olive Bryanton's name has been synonymous with consistent and informed advocacy for senior citizens, and especially the development of new services and ideas for better social policies; but younger generations also command attention because of her belief in better inter-generational understandings.","N5pfiK3jFBOWQod581N3mM-eqeyqvYu1bw-gZg17m_k",1789062652028]