Gerontology and geriatrics wasn’t my initial plan, going into social work. I was hoping to work with immigrants. I’m an immigrant too – I came here from Bosnia about 12 years ago. 

But being a research assistant to Dr. Anna Azulai and Dr. Lun Li – who both focus on gerontology, geriatrics and older adults – influenced me. 

I really like qualitative research. It’s important to hear what people want and not assume. I like hearing people's stories to learn what needs to be addressed and what people are asking for. 

Our population is aging rapidly and there's a need for more services for older adults. There’s a gap there. So I thought, “I’ll go where the gap is.” 

In our 400-level social work class, some of my classmates and I worked with a social worker at Villa Caritas who supports caregivers of older adults with mental health issues like dementia, depression, bipolar and schizophrenia. 

When she asked us to come up with something to support caregivers we looked to the literature, which showed the main challenges were navigation of systems and overload of information. 

We knew we had to give people resources but make it easy. So we designed a decision tree that encompasses different diagnoses at Villa Caritas, and the resources a caregiver would need. As they go through the decision tree, caregivers – and anyone working with caregivers – are connected to a resource that already exists. 

We also wanted to show caregivers that we see them and that they need support, so we created little self-care kits and added a note letting them know that we hoped they will take a minute to be intentional with themselves. 

I’m doing my practicum at Villa Caritas now, so I get to see the self-care kits being given out and the resource tree being used. It’s really cool! 

I was really intimidated by the idea of research at first. I was like, “Can I do this?” I think it’s just about taking it step by step, and coming into it with curiosity and placing yourself as a learner. 

You're not there to be perfect from the beginning – this is something you can work on. And I think most people would be surprised at how fun it can be – as nerdy as that sounds!

– Sejla Catovic, Bachelor of Social Work student

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