MURAnews Spring 2026

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CURAC Affinity Partners

By Susan Birnie

As members of MURA, we are also members of CURAC – College and University Retiree Associations of Canada. CURAC negotiates with a number of providers to obtain beneficial pricing for members. These are fully explained on the CURAC’s Member Benefits webpage.

Current affinity partners are in the categories of travel planning, insurance, health, and retirement living.

Travel: Collette Tours offers guided tours, while Trip Merchant offers discounts on a range of travel experiences through their partnership with suppliers.

Insurance: CURAC has partnered with belairdirect, which offers car, home and travel insurance. In addition, Entente Education Canada (formerly RTOERO) offers comprehensive group insurance.

Health: Specsavers offers discounts on eye exams, glasses and contact lenses. Hearing Life provides hearing aids and noise protection.

Retirement living: Schlegel Villages, highly regarded retirement homes located throughout Ontario, including in Hamilton and Burlington, has partnered with some universities to provide funding for research into aging and health. They offer us free meeting space, with refreshments, at their facilities.

If you use one of these affinity partners, please indicate that you are a member of CURAC for your discount. In return, MURA will receive a monetary benefit from your purchase. Thanks to this reciprocal agreement, the amount received was in the hundreds of dollars, which in turn allowed MURA to subsidize some of the events for our members.

Parking on Campus

Retiree parking permits are issued on a 12-month basis and must be renewed annually. Renew prior to your expiry date by email, phone or by postal mail. Your transponder number is on the front of your transponder. If you have questions or have not made a note of your expiry date, please contact McMaster Parking Services by email at parking@mcmaster.ca or at 905-525-9140, extension 24232.

Parking lots with the entry gate arms open operate on the HonkMobile app. These lots do not work with transponders or parking Exit Ticket passes, so please do not park in a lot with the arm up or you will receive a ticket.

Coming soon: McMaster will be automating Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) technology on campus. This system uses cameras mounted on parking vehicles to verify permits by scanning licence plates. Note that parking permits are linked to licence plates, not physical transponders.

What’s Happening @ Mac

Chancellor Emeritus Lynton ‘Red’ Wilson

By Judith Shedden

Lynton R. Wilson, known to many as “Red,” is remembered as one of McMaster University’s most influential alumni, volunteers, and benefactors. His passing on February 9, 2026, at age 85, marks the loss of a remarkable leader whose impact on the university spanned more than four decades.

A distinguished figure in Canadian business and public service, Wilson remained deeply committed to McMaster throughout his life. He served in key leadership roles, including on the Board of Governors and as chancellor. His extraordinary generosity helped shape the McMaster campus and academic mission, including the creation of major initiatives such as the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, L.R. Wilson Hall, and his landmark gift to establish the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement. In addition, he championed student development through programs like the Wilson Leadership Scholar Awards.

Beyond his many accomplishments, Wilson will be remembered for his vision and steadfast belief in the power of education and civic engagement. His legacy is woven into the fabric of McMaster and will continue to inspire students, faculty, and alumni for generations to come.

For a detailed tribute to L.R. Wilson’s extensive contributions and legacy, see McMaster News: A life of service and leadership: In memory of L.R. Wilson.

Blast from the Past

Buildings under construction at the new McMaster University campus in 1930.

The buildings from top to bottom:

Image from photos shared by Amber Smith-Abbott.

Research at McMaster

Older Adults in a Digital World

By Dawnelle Hawes

Empowering Canada's aging population (contributed by Grace Mullen, 2026)

Dr. Brian Detlor, professor in Information Systems at DeGroote School of Business, was principal investigator of a study examining digital literacy programs aimed at older adults. This study spanned a ten-year period and analysed 200 studies distilled from more than 4500 records. The purpose of the study was to determine the most effective learning approach with this population. Digital technology has reached the point where it is no longer “nice to have” knowledge for older adults but increasingly vital for “social inclusion, independence and well-being in later life” (Munawar et al., 2025). It is unfortunate that older adults may be feeling digitally excluded because of such factors as social isolation, low motivation, restricted mobility and disability, lack of peer support, limited education, racialization, and low income (Mullen & Ghillic, 2025). A research program through McMaster’s Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) called EMPOWrD (Enhancing Mobility and Participation for Older Adult Wellness through Digital Inclusion) was designed to help reduce gaps in mobility, wellness and use of technology for older Canadian adults.

Although they may be advised that “technology is easy,” older adults might not find it easy to learn and use, especially since they were not born into the digital age, where technology is almost second nature. An adverse reaction to such a statement may cause even more isolation. Often when making health appointments, performing banking tasks, accessing government services and engaging in social connections, lack of digital literacy can be a barrier to inclusion in these aspects of society (Mullen, 2026).

Briefly, older adults learn best with experiential learning using case studies and examples, working in collaborative groups, and dealing with real-life, personally relevant matters, rather than attempting to achieve digital excellence. Activities such as creating digital albums from family photos, understanding the basics of Google maps to aid in leaving home, or being able to play digital games with grandchildren creates more confidence for applying digital tasks to daily life.

The study concluded that digital literacy training for older adults “supported psychological improvements, boosting confidence and competence through repetition, peer learning, and supportive instruction” (Mullen & Ghillic, 2025). Many of the older adult participants undertook further training. Secondary benefits included feeling less isolated and more independent, as well as experiencing improved awareness of what constitutes safe online behaviour. The ongoing gaps identified included a method for determining long-term outcomes and variations in information behaviour.

Computer Tips & Tricks

Online Investment Scammers & Imposter Fraud

By Diana Parker

Investment scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated. They pose as employees of trusted financial institutions, and even political leaders, all to get your attention, and gain your confidence and trust. The use of AI is eliminating some of the grammatical mistakes that used to give them away.

Here are four signs to watch out for to steer clear of their traps:

1. Unsolicited investment offers: If you’re getting an unsolicited investment offer, especially one claiming guaranteed or unusually high returns, watch out - opportunities that sound too good to be true, probably are.
2. Urgent Messages or social media ads: Messages demanding your urgent attention are trying to press your panic button. Don’t fall for any urgent requests to act immediately to “protect” your account, “avoid” losses, or accept a “special” offer.
3. Unexpected Messages: Messages you didn’t initiate, e.g., direct messages received through social media, messaging apps, texts, or emails, are often a good sign you’re being targeted by a fraudster.
4. Software Downloads: Think twice if you receive any requests to download software, share one-time passcodes, or allow remote access to your device. You never want to give fraudsters access to your accounts or private information.

If you encounter any of the above: Stop, Drop and Report!

Stop.

Drop.

Report.

Finally, if you or someone you know was victimized, the Government of Canada 'Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)' would like you to report it through their Report Cybercrime and Fraud webpage. You can submit your report anonymously if you wish to share helpful information without being identified.

Volunteer Opportunities

McMaster Convocation Assistants

The Office of the Registrar welcomes retirees to become involved in the most exciting days of McMaster students’ academic lives — convocations.

Volunteers are needed to assist at convocations, where their role would be to meet, greet and direct students and guests, check tickets and/or distribute hoods and diplomas to students. They will work alongside a full-time employee who can offer assistance and training.

If you are interested in signing up for any of the days listed below (full- or half-day options), please complete the online Volunteer sign-up form by May 1 for May ceremonies or by May 22 for June ceremonies. The sign-up form can also be found on the Convocation webpage by selecting the Faculty and Staff tab. Scroll down and click on the How do I volunteer at convocation?, and then click on the Join the Convo Crew! button. When you complete the registration form, please select “Other” under question 5 and type “retiree”.

More details can be found on the Office of the Registrar's Convocation webpage, or by contacting Rachel Huang in the Office of the Registrar at convo@mcmaster.ca.

Spring 2026 convocation ceremonies:

Approximate volunteer shifts (for all events):

Academics Without Borders

McMaster faculty, staff, and retirees recently came together for a virtual information session focused on the work of Academics Without Borders (AWB) and the opportunities available for engagement through its global initiatives.

Hosted by McMaster’s Office of International Affairs in partnership with McMaster University Retirees Association, the session provided both an overview of AWB’s mission and firsthand insight into the impact of its projects and volunteer experiences.

Overview of AWB’s Work

The session opened with a presentation by Corrie Young (Associate Executive Director), who outlined AWB’s mission and project model. She described how the organization partners with universities to support initiatives, such as curriculum development, research capacity building, and improved teaching practices, while also explaining how volunteers can get involved through existing or new projects.

Volunteer Experience in Action

This was followed by Andrea Hemmerich, PhD (Biomedical Engineering), who shared her experience as an AWB volunteer in Kenya. She highlighted the impact of cross-institutional collaboration and the professional and personal benefits of participating in AWB projects.

Get Involved

The session concluded with an invitation for the McMaster University community to explore volunteer opportunities and contribute to AWB’s global partnership.

For more information, please reach out to oia@mcmaster.ca.

News from CURAC

CURAC 2026 National Conference

Vancouver, BC, May 20 - 22, 2026

The Simon Fraser University Retirees Association (SFURA) is pleased to host the 2026 College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC) conference from May 20–22, 2026 in New Westminster, the geographic centre of Metro Vancouver, as part of SFU's 60th Anniversary celebrations.

The conference theme is Making Connections and keynote presentations include:

If you’re also looking forward to making connections with old friends in Vancouver, the hotel is a 5–10 minute walk to Vancouver’s SkyTrain system, making almost anywhere in Metro Vancouver easily accessible without a car.

Visit the conference website for details, updates, and registration.

Community Connections

Looking for something interesting to do over the next few months? The following organizations offer a wide variety of seminars, events, and activities designed with seniors in mind. You can check out their websites on a regular basis to see what’s new, or sign up for their email newsletters. While most activities are free, some do have a minimal cost associated with them.

Geras Centre for Aging Research

Over the next 20 years, Canada’s aging population is expected to grow by 68%, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Geras (Geriatric Education and Research in Aging Sciences) Centre for Aging Research has built a reputation for research that reaches the frontlines of care quickly across diverse settings and is changing how healthcare is delivered to older adults.

Find out more information about Geras
Explore evidence-based courses and certificate programs to help people age with dignity and independence.

Become a study participant
If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering for research studies in brain health, bone health, resilience & frailty, and innovation & technology, visit Geras Opportunities.

Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging

The Gilbrea Centre organizes a variety of events each year as part of its ongoing programming. In addition, the Centre collaborates with partner organizations and associate researchers to deliver special events throughout the year. Check back often to see what new events have been added!

The SHARE Network, developed by the Gilbrea Centre, consists of different volunteer groups for older adults 55+. The SHARE Network provides opportunities to socialize and engage in discussions and research workshop initiatives. Activities may include co-design and participation in research, as well as opportunities to volunteer in public engagement to raise awareness of the research on aging completed at the Gilbrea Centre.

LIVElab

The LIVE (Large Interactive Virtual Environment) Lab is a 106-seat Research Performance Hall designed to study the experience of music, dance, multimedia presentations, and human interaction. It is equipped with advanced technology to measure various physiological responses and supports research in neuroscience, performer-audience interactions, and the development of health and artistic technologies. The lab hosts events to educate the public about the science of music through interactive performances featuring advanced tech capabilities and leading artists.

McMaster Optimal Aging Portal

E-Learning: Stay healthy, active, and engaged with interactive lessons ranging from 15 to 35 minutes. Micro-Learning courses allow you to learn something new in just a few minutes each week with free email-based micro-learning series. The Optimal Aging Portal is managed by the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), which also produces the MIRA Community Update, a comprehensive newsletter with information about community events for seniors, research study opportunities, and evidence-based research on aging well.

Hamilton Aging in Community

Hamilton Aging in Community aims to relieve social isolation of older adults and to promote resilient aging by:

Hamilton Council on Aging

With support from the United Way of Halton & Hamilton, HCoA offers highly regarded peer-to-peer educational workshops for seniors:

Members' Corner

McMaster – Guyana Surgical Connections

By Brian H. Cameron, Surgery

You might already know that there is a large Guyanese diaspora in southern Ontario. McMaster has benefited from the contributions of many faculty migrating from that former British colony on the northern coastline of South America. It is a small country with a population of less than a million, now gaining increasing international attention as the world’s newest petrostate.

You might not know that McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences has recently signed agreements with Guyanese health authorities to strengthen collaborations in postgraduate education and research. This partnership, along with St. Joseph’s International Outreach Program, has brought dozens of Guyanese medical trainees to Hamilton for 9- to 12-month fellowships. Over the last fifteen years, these doctors have returned to Guyana where they are propelling the rapid modernization of their health services.

During my twenty years in pediatric surgery at McMaster, I was fortunate to be involved with this project in Guyana, which became one of the most fulfilling opportunities of my career. I visited Guyana over 25 times, helping establish their locally based surgical training program. We hosted Guyanese visitors in our home and developed deep friendships.

I would often be asked why I first visited Guyana in 1996, since I am not Guyanese. The country was not then known as a Caribbean tourist destination (although it has developed an eco-tourism reputation since then, just google Iwokrama if you are interested in birds and biodiversity!).

My first visit to Guyana was with the volunteer group Health for Humanity, and I went to visit Dr. Jamshid Aidun in the remote Rupununi (Roo-puh-noo-nee) savannah. Aidun was a urologist, in his 60’s and recently widowed, who had moved from Manitoba to Guyana to volunteer his services. We knew each other through the Bahá’í community. As I accompanied Dr. Aidun on village visits to the remarkably resilient Indigenous people, I got hooked on the country.

When I retired in 2021, I visited Dr. Aidun who now lives in Vaughan with his Guyanese wife. Aidun is a humble man, but his dramatic stories reflected his deep commitment to recognizing and developing people’s capacity. I encouraged him to write his memoir, but he told me he was not a writer. I soon discovered otherwise when he shared his Rupununi diaries with me. Quickly I realized that I would have to write his memoir, although I was not a writer either. How could I become one?

I’ve written scientific articles and knew how to do research. Using Zoom, I interviewed dozens of people on four continents who had been connected to Dr. Aidun and the Bahá’í Community Health Partnership in Guyana. Then I gathered more remarkable stories of transformation on a visit back to the Rupununi in 2023 to document the ripple effects of Aidun’s service a generation later.

Gathering sources was fun, but writing a book was a different challenge. The stories were compelling – could I share them in an authentic and engaging way? I signed up for an online writing course, found some mentors and reviewers, and got into an early-morning writing routine. Those of you who have embarked on a writing project know how difficult it can sometimes be to keep going! Then I found Friesen Press, Canada’s leader in assisted self-publishing, and they helped get me to the finish line. The publishing experience felt, in many ways, like a parent bringing a child into the world. The difference being, I then had to let my child head out into the world alone, hoping the world would be kind.

Since the book’s publication in May 2025, I’ve been grateful and overwhelmed by the positive response. The Dundas book launch in September was attended by over 100 family and friends and led to a full-page article in the Hamilton Spectator. I’ve spoken at author events from Victoria to Ottawa, and recorded presentations and podcasts. It turns out that when you’re a self-published author, you also become a book promoter! You can learn all about that on my Facebook page (Ripples from the Rupununi). The reviews are in on Amazon and Goodreads, and I am grateful that they are generous and five stars.

But the most important ripple effect of my writing project took place a few months ago when Dr. Aidun, at age 96, returned to the Rupununi for their local book launch. He reconnected with the Indigenous hospital and community health professionals, many inspired by him, who are now running a modern health service in the Rupununi. They are the real heroes of the story.

Ripples from the Rupununi: Dr. Aidun’s Healing Journey (Friesen Press, 2025) is available at the McMaster Campus Bookstore, and online through all book retailers. For more information see my website.

Above: Brian Cameron and Dr. Jamshid Aidun at the Dundas book launch in September. (Photo courtesy of Blair Cameron)

Right: Guyanese educator Laureen Pierre, who wrote the book’s foreword, presents a copy to Dr. Frank Anthony, Guyana’s Minister of Health.  (Photo courtesy of Guyana Ministry of Health)

Tai Chi’s calming, slow breathing:
More than just a mindful-movements exercise

By Bruce Thong, Medicine

Copyright: Courtesy of Bruce Thong

That experience brought me back full circle, to an appreciation of the breath-work (chi kung/qigong) that is often under-emphasized or neglected in Tai Chi exercise. This neglect occurs despite the fact that Tai Chi, as coached at the highest level by Tai Chi Masters or Grandmasters, is indeed a moving form of qigong.

One of the lesser-known beneficial features of Tai Chi exercise is the calming, slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing (SDDB) [Russo et al., 2017; Sevoz-Couche et al., 2022] that is used for pacing its slow, rhythmic physical movements. It is this characteristic of Tai Chi which makes the exercise a truly moving form of qigong. This is how it is meant to be practiced as a full-scope Tai Chi exercise for optimal health benefits. Qigong is an ancient Chinese art of harnessing one’s breath-work to energize movements, enhance martial arts skills, and help to attain and improve mental and spiritual well-being. Tai Chi is only one of many forms of qigong, which can be moving or relatively static practices [Klein et al., 2017]. The full-scope Tai Chi exercise confers greater health benefits [Bates et al., 2026] than the movement-only form that is, unfortunately, often coached and practiced. Movements-only Tai Chi should only serve as an initial, introductory level “stepping stone” towards attaining the skills for a full-scope Tai Chi exercise.

To better understand the usage of the SDDB as a pacer for slow Tai Chi movements, one can visualize the similar context of a sprinter. Imagine approaching the finish line of the 100-metre dash where speed of bodily movements is limited by rate of breathing. The Tai Chi practitioner operates under the same physical limitation as the sprinter near the end of the race.

Other subtle Tai Chi characteristics include the internal mindfulness (i.e., moment-to-moment mental awareness) of shifting weight-bearing from one leg to the other, dynamic bodily balance, grounded-rooting for stability, and mental focus. All are important to safely and correctly execute the flowing, kinetic chain of coordinated movements. The sum of all these features, along with the repetitive cycles of mindful movements, is what yields the sensorium of the “moving meditation” of Tai Chi [Russell et al., 2015; Clark et al., 2015].

To appreciate the healthful benefits of Tai Chi breath-work, it is noteworthy that the invoked SDDB (also known as abdominal or belly breathing) activates our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) [Russo et al., 2017]. PNS is the “rest-recover-digest” arm of our autonomic nervous system, which yields a relaxation response that is opposite to the stress response of the “fight-or-flight” sympathetic arm. This is what makes Tai Chi a paradoxical case of a physical exercise being a “relaxational” exercise, whereas virtually all physical exercises are considered to be stress events (albeit a healthy form of stress within limits).

Another beneficial effect of Tai Chi exercise, which further emphasizes the importance of including SDDB in training, is the effect on our immune system. Activated PNS elicits an anti-inflammatory response via the parasympathetic, cholinergic vagus nerve that helps reduce ambient inflammations occurring in many chronic, inflammatory diseases [Bower et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2012; Kelly et al., 2022].

From a practical standpoint, SDDB skill can be coached and practiced as a stand-alone exercise during the warm-up and/or cool-down segment of a Tai Chi session, separate from the training of core physical movements.

The SDDB can then be re-integrated as a pacer when the practitioners are more familiar and confident with the Tai Chi core physical components. In this stepwise approach, it is less overwhelming. Incidentally, the SDDB skill can also be used outside of Tai Chi for eliciting a relaxation response whenever one is stressed, or just before bedtime to help kick-start a more restful sleep [Jerath et al., 2019].

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Contacting Human Resources