From doing people's taxes to penning a first novel, Sask. 100-year-olds stay busy

Life doesn’t slow down at 100, and many Saskatchewan residents stay active well into old age, a new documentary shows.

“Even though they might have some mobility issues or some hearing loss, they're still very eager to share their stories,” filmmaker Kelly Riess told CTV News.

“They're also pretty amazing like one of them was still writing and is still working on publishing her first novel. And another one is volunteering to do people's taxes. She's a long-time accountant, and she's really passionate about that work in helping people with lower incomes, or people who don't have the capacity to do their own taxes.”

The project started out as research for nurse and instructor, Heather Nelson.

“We've been doing research on older adults and their experience during COVID, and experiences of loneliness and different things like that. And we were looking for the next project,” Nelson said.

“We were talking about 100-year-olds and what their lives were like, and one of our research team members was their mother was actually turning 100. So we were like, well, how great would that be to talk to 100-year-olds and see what their life was like.”

She said she enjoyed working on the film.

• Get the CTV News app for Saskatchewan breaking news alerts and top stories 

“The 100-year-olds had more than enough to say and they were fully capable and interested in participating in everything they wanted to tell their story. And they had great stories to tell.”

Nelson said it was quite easy to find participants for the project.

“It was surprisingly easy to find 100-year-olds,” she said. “It took us a few phone calls, honestly, a few phone calls to some assisted living facilities, and our friends knew of people.”

Riess said it was a new type of project for her but she was excited to be a part of it.

“Even though the number of 100-year-olds is growing, not many of us know them. And I wasn't sure what I was going to learn or what they were going to be like. It was actually amazing because they have really great stories. And they're really funny. And they're really honest.”

She said it also gave them the opportunity to shine a light on the lives of people who sometimes feel ignored.

“A lot of the older adults that we've shown this film to, they feel like they're ignored, they don't often get to see themselves on TV,” she said.

“These people continue to be active, and they continue to give back to the community. And it's just not something we think about when we think about 100-year-olds.”

The research will shine a light on how to help older individuals live a full and enjoyable life, Nelson said.

“I think that's the larger goal of this study, to put forward that idea of supporting older adults in a way that's meaningful, and in a way that they want to be supported.”

The documentary was aired at the facilities where the participants lived and will also be shown at different locations around Saskatchewan. It’s also available online: https://theflatlander.ca/looking-forward-at-100-the-documentary/