Fast times at "Senior High"

    You may never look at your grandparents the same way again

    TORONTO, May 22 /CNW/ - On Monday, May 26, The Globe and Mail launches
"Senior High," a series that shatters stereotypical views of retirement homes
as peaceful, quiet places where people go to spend their last days. As the
series reveals, there is much more going on than meets the eye. While
residents are elderly, they're still very much involved in the messy business
of living. Retirement home living turns out to be a lot like going back to
high school, complete with cliques, gossip and a dating scene.
    Globe and Mail Life section reporter Rebecca Dube and Globe photographer
and videographer Kevin Van Paassen spent more than two months with residents
at The Terraces of Baycrest, a retirement residence in North Toronto. Through
articles, photographs and film, they chronicle the lives of residents as they
adjust to the transition of moving into a retirement home, find love and
companionship, deal with health issues and come to terms with the death of
friends and loved ones.
    "By 2026, one in five Canadians will be 65 years or older. We hear a lot
about changing demographics, but we don't hear much from old people
themselves," said reporter Rebecca Dube. "As medical advances make it possible
for people to stay healthy into their 90s, this generation is redefining the
way we think about old age. I was surprised and moved by what I learned."
    The five part special series will run daily from May 26 to May 30 in the
Life section of The Globe and Mail and at www.globeandmail.com/seniorhigh,
which will feature four intimate video documentary portraits in which
residents share personal stories about the issues they are grappling with.
Interactive brain teaser exercises and an online discussion with an expert on
dealing with aging parents will also be featured on the site.
    The series launches with an overview of Canada's aging population and the
cultural implications of this reality - including a retirement home building
boom across the country. Industry experts say the province of Ontario alone
could use 80,000 new retirement spaces over the next 20 years. And while
retirement homes offer a compromise for seniors between living on their own
and going to a nursing home, it's a change that requires a huge adjustment -
and some unexpected social terrain to navigate.
    Over the course of five days, the series explores other aspects of life
in a retirement home, including the social dynamics of senior communities,
looking for love at age 77, living conditions and dealing with death as a
constant visitor.

    The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, is a division of
CTVglobemedia, a dynamic multimedia company, which also owns CTV Inc.,
Canada's number-one private broadcaster.

For further information: or to arrange an interview with Rebecca Dube,
please contact: Teresa Pagnutti at [phone] - work, [phone] -
cell, [e-mail]; or Jennifer Hills, [e-mail],
[phone]