11th Annual McDonald Centre Conference

Postponed, Date TBA.

Ageing, Suffering, Despair: Towards Patience and Hope for Health and Care

With 10 million persons over the age of sixty-five in the UK at present, an absolute statistic expected to double by 2050, it seems appropriate to think about the moral reality of ageing with a focus upon not only the existential gravity but also the response, which might nurture new ways of thinking about health care and the provision of hope for an ageing population.

The 11th Annual McDonald Centre Conference will gather both theologians and philosophers for conversation with medical professionals and health care experts, including gerontologists, geriatricians, and palliative care specialists, such that the gravity of old age, including experiences of suffering and despair, can be foregrounded. Although ageing, suffering, and despair offer the thematic contours for the conference, further thinking about essential virtues for overcoming despair and the meaning or practices of hope will be considered such that health and care might be resourced, while public policies, educative experiences, and professional practices might be re-examined.