Joanna Maselko, ScD 

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In collaboration with the Univeristy of Jaffna, this pilot project aimed to gather pilot data on the magnitude of grandparent-grandchild networks and the quality of their interactions, as well as their level of satisfaction or enjoyment from these relationships, and their perceptions of their relationship in the context of their own aging. We also collected information on barriers and facilitators to interacting with grandchildren or engaging in other activities the elders enjoyed. This was accomplished through quantitative surveys administered to 80 Sri Lankan elders (aged 55+), as well as 15 semi-structured interviews conducted with a subset of our study sample. 

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Through ongoing analyses, we hope that the findings of this research will provide new and reliable information on the health status and interactional patterns of elders in the northern province of Sri Lanka, with potentially exciting implications for healthy aging and elder well-being. We hope to build off of our understanding of the routines, cultural norms, and community resources that are salient to the local community in Jaffna to apply for subsequent funding. In that larger grant, we would work to examine the relationship between grandparent-grandchild interactions and both grandparent cognitive functioning and health, and ultimately develop and implement an intervention to support healthy aging in our target population.

Co-Investigators on this project include Kathryn Hale, Truls Østbye, P. A. Dinesh Coonghe, and Rajendra Surenthirakumaran.