Fresh Ideas for Aging Well: Meet the Speakers at the Halifax Aging Your Way Expo
Jenna Hilchey, BScN RN CHPCN(C)
What would make everyday life feel more connected, enjoyable or easier to navigate?
Perhaps it’s discovering a community resource you didn’t know existed. Feeling better prepared for a move. Understanding more about your hearing. Or finding a welcoming place to enjoy music and movement.
Aging well involves many parts of life, and there is always something new to learn.
At the 2026 Halifax Aging Your Way Expo, our Stage Feature presentations will bring together local professionals and community organizations to share information, explore questions and introduce ideas you can take home.
Join us on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 9 AM to 3 PM at Cedar Events Centre in Halifax. Admission is free, and presentations will take place at the stage beside the café in the main lobby.
You’re welcome to attend a session that catches your interest or spend the day exploring. Here’s what’s coming to the stage.
9:30 AM: Discover What Your Library Can Do for You
Halifax Public Libraries Free Resources & Services
Haley Parsons and Jennifer DeYoung, Bedford Public Library
When was the last time you explored what your local library offers?
Many of us have familiar reasons for visiting the library, but there may be resources, services and things to do that we haven’t discovered yet.
Haley Parsons and Jennifer DeYoung from Bedford Public Library will open the day’s presentations with a look at Halifax Public Libraries’ free resources and services.
This session is an opportunity to learn more about what’s available and how your library can fit into your everyday life. Whether you’re looking for information, exploring an interest or hoping to become more connected to your community, it’s a good place to start.
Come with your curiosity—and perhaps a question about something you’ve been hoping to find close to home.
10:30 AM: Understanding Family Conflict Around Care
Not a Service Problem: Unmasking Family Conflict in Senior Care
Delphine du Toit, MSW, Chartered Mediator
Conversations about an aging family member’s care can bring together different expectations, concerns and opinions.
One person may feel unheard. Another may believe a different decision should have been made. Sometimes, frustration directed toward a service provider may also involve disagreements within the family.
Mediator Delphine du Toit will explore these situations through real, anonymized examples, helping attendees consider what may be happening beneath the surface of a complaint or difficult conversation.
Her presentation will introduce questions that can help distinguish a service issue from an underlying family conflict and consider why that distinction matters when deciding how to respond.
For anyone involved in shared decisions about a loved one’s care, this session offers an opportunity to pause, look at the situation from another perspective and think about what needs to be addressed.
11:30 AM: Recognizing Scams and Staying Informed
A presentation on frauds, scams and community safety
Kathleen Reid, Executive Director, The SageWell Association
An unexpected message asks you to act quickly. A caller sounds convincing. An unfamiliar request leaves you wondering whether something is quite right.
Knowing what to question is an important part of feeling prepared.
Kathleen Reid, Executive Director of The SageWell Association, will lead a presentation about frauds, scams and crime risks in our communities, using real-life scenarios to engage attendees and explore situations they may encounter.
SageWell is a Halifax-based nonprofit dedicated to helping adults aged 55 and older live well, stay connected and remain active in their communities. Since becoming Executive Director in 2024, Kathleen has helped expand the organization’s programs, partnerships and outreach into urban and rural communities.
She brings a commitment to inclusion, accessibility and community connection to this conversation about staying informed and safe.
12:00 PM: An Introduction to Neurofeedback
NeurOptimal® Dynamical Neurofeedback®: Brain Training and Heart-Brain Coherence
Debbie Gaudet, Neurofeedback Practitioner and HeartMath Coach, Prana Brain Wellness
You may have heard the term “brain training” without knowing what it means in practice.
Debbie Gaudet from Prana Brain Wellness will introduce NeurOptimal Dynamical Neurofeedback and explain what this approach involves.
Her presentation will explore how neurofeedback works with the brain and central nervous system, alongside a discussion of emotions and the concept of heart-brain coherence.
For those unfamiliar with neurofeedback, this is an opportunity to hear a practitioner explain the approach, become more familiar with the terminology and bring questions about the process.
Exploring a new topic can begin with understanding what it is, how it is described and what you would like to learn more about.
12:30 PM: Exploring Hearing and Healthy Aging
Hearing and Healthy Aging
Adele Mansour, Registered Audiologist, Bedford HearCANADA
Think about the moments when hearing is part of your day: chatting over coffee, following a conversation around the dinner table or participating in a community event.
At this session, Adele Mansour from Bedford HearCANADA will explore the relationship between hearing and cognitive, social and emotional health.
The presentation will offer an overview of research in everyday language, helping attendees learn about the role hearing plays in healthy aging.
It’s a chance to look at hearing within the wider picture of daily life and well-being, and to bring questions you may not have had an opportunity to ask.
Whether the topic is relevant to you or someone close to you, you’re welcome to come and learn.
1:30 PM: Planning for What Comes After a Home Sale
Keep More of What You’ve Built: A Tax-Efficient Approach to Managing Home Sale Proceeds in Retirement
Greg Williams, B.Comm., Certified Financial Planner, Greg Williams & Associates
A home can hold years of memories. Deciding to sell may be part of a plan to downsize, simplify daily life or move somewhere that better suits your next chapter.
Alongside those personal decisions come financial questions.
Greg Williams will discuss considerations for managing proceeds from the sale of a home, cottage or other property as part of a retirement plan.
His presentation will cover common tax mistakes when investing sale proceeds and explore topics such as TFSAs, beneficiaries, estate tax considerations and withdrawal strategies.
If a property sale is on your horizon—or you simply want to understand what to consider before that time arrives—this session can help you identify questions to bring into your own planning conversations.
2:30 PM: Finish the Afternoon with Dance to Move
Dance to Move ClassLisa Phinney Langley, BSc, MSc, Phin Performing Arts
Our final Stage Feature invites you to enjoy some music and movement.
Lisa Phinney Langley, Program Director and Lead Instructor of Phin Performing Arts’ Dance to Move program, will lead a 25-minute class featuring jazz, classical music, oldies and newer songs.
The class begins with a seated warm-up, followed by choreographed sequences, a taste of improvisation and a dance party to close the afternoon.
Lisa will offer modifications for individual needs, and participants can join in however they feel comfortable.
With 25 years of professional experience as a dancer, choreographer and instructor, alongside a background in scientific research, Lisa brings a range of experience to her teaching. Her years supporting her father, who lived with Parkinson’s, also helped shape her work creating opportunities for people living with Parkinson’s and older adults to enjoy dance.
Come take part, enjoy the music and finish your visit with a shared moment of joy.
Make Time to Explore Between Presentations
The presentations are one part of the day. Between sessions, take time to meet exhibitors, ask questions and explore local services, community programs and resources that reflect your interests.
You might arrive with something specific in mind or discover an organization you hadn’t heard of before. Give yourself room for those conversations.
If you’d like a refreshment break, Julienne’s Catering will have tea, coffee, water and snacks available to purchase at the café near the stage until 2 PM.
For lunch, Mad Over Sliders will be outside in the parking lot from 11 AM to 2 PM.
Bring a friend, make plans with a family member or come on your own. You don’t need to be facing a major life change to find something useful.
Join Us at the Halifax Aging Your Way Expo
Hosted by Remember When HealthCare, the Aging Your Way Expo brings people together to explore the many possibilities for aging well.
We hope these presentations give you something to think about, a useful question to ask or an idea you’re excited to explore.
Saturday, October 17, 20269 AM–3 PM
Cedar Events Centre, Halifax
Free admission
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