Wait for it… Wait for it…

Lara khadr

February 27, 2018

Hello all! I am a second-year master's student in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology here at the School of Public Health. I will be helping with an elderly needs assessment in Grenada. One of the things that makes talking about geriatric care so fascinating is that it is an issue that affects all of us universally in modern times as people live longer and give birth to fewer children. With the development of an aging population, understanding how to better prepare for changing demographics is crucial. According to a 2014 United Nations Fund for Population Activities  report, the average life expectancy has increased by 5 years in Grenada for both men and women on the island between 1990 and 2010 and the fertility rate has decreased by 1.6% in the same time period.

I am excited to partake in a project that will be addressing the health needs of a geriatric population because much of my work in public health, including my master's thesis, has involved working with children. That being said, I am also very nervous and because the Ministry has trusted us to develop an interview tool to better understand the forces that impact the elderly's quality of life. It is a relevant and interesting subject and I do not want to disappoint them. We will be using the tool to talk to Grenadians, both on the street and with stakeholders, to better understand issues including attitudes towards aging and mental health, loneliness and isolation, and disaster preparedness. Our goal is to use the information we gather from our interviews with locals to inform the Ministry of Social Development and Housing and help them shape any future policies accordingly. We will be doing this over the course of a five-day work week. As of when I write this, we have four more days to go. Wish us luck! This will be fine, fun, and fabulous.