Social work student leads provincial initiative to combat elder abuse

We all face crossroads in life — those moments when the future seemingly hangs in the balance. In many cases it takes years before we know if we've taken the right path. Garima Khatri's crossroads came on New Year’s Eve 2014. She knew she needed a change, and on the cusp of the new year she decided to put medical school behind her and strike a new path in life.

After just a few years, it seems clear she made the right decision when she chose social work from a dizzying array of considered career choices. But in retrospect, maybe the choice wasn't so hard. In many ways it’s her family’s profession. Garima’s mother Veena is a respected clinical social worker in Edmonton and her father is a community builder.

“I read up on social work and felt an affinity for it as a place to bring all of my previous experiences and training,” says Khatri, who also loved the wide scope of the profession. “You can work with individuals, families, organizations, communities and systems, in a wide range of areas, which really, really appealed to me. Then I read the values and code of ethics … nothing spoke to me louder than social work.”

Khatri will graduate with her Master's of Social Work from the faculty’s Edmonton campus next year, but she isn’t waiting for convocation to make a difference. On June 15 at Edmonton City Hall, Khatri was part of a special presentation to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day where she spoke about her role in the Immigrant Seniors Project.

Khatri is pictured above, second from left, with former Social Work Dean Gayla Rogers, current Dean Jackie Sieppert, and fellow Edmonton campus award winner, MSW student Marianne Cudjoe-Seshie. Khatri won Social Work's Clarice Chodak Recognition of Excellence for Social Action Award.

Taking on elder abuse 

Elder abuse is a growing issue in Alberta and around the world. Previous research has shown that more than eight per cent of Canadian seniors have reported some form of emotional or financial abuse or had physical and sexual violence committed against them by children, caregivers or spouses. Most experts believe these numbers should be much higher, since seniors often won’t report incidents out of shame and wanting to protect loved ones.

Khatri was hired as a project co-ordinator examining the issue of elder abuse in Edmonton’s Chinese and south Asian communities. She identified a network of  multiple service providers, faith leaders, community leaders and informal leaders and proceeded to gather their perspectives on their communities’ strengths, challenges and learnings in the area.

“If we talk about a mosaic,” says Khatri, “each person contributed a tile and these tiles together made a big picture.”

A virtuous circle

Khatri found that her work, although not a formal research program, became part of a virtuous circle with her school work and personal experience. In fact, she accepted the co-ordinator position because she felt she could really bring a lot to the role.

“As a first generation Indo-Canadian woman,” explains Khatri, “and part of a family that has provided care for both of my grandmothers, I feel like I have a lot of personal experience that I could contribute. I'm so glad I accepted the position because it's helped me to grow. I understand our [MSW] course material a lot better: I apply a lot of what I learn in the classroom directly to the project and the project helps me to understand the classroom material with greater depth. It’s led to opportunities at school for field education in geriatric psychiatry and, currently, in forensic social work, and to sit on the MSW Policy Committee.”

As Khatri’s role in the project wraps up, her work will be used to help inform work being done by a steering committee, comprised of an umbrella group of community and government organizations. This means that Khatri can go back to “just” balancing her studies as an award-winning MSW student, her position at 211, and her passionate commitment to advocacy work.

“It’s really something,” says Khatri. “I couldn't have planned any of this, but yet here I am. Everything in my life compliments the other part and grows me, both, as a person and as a professional. I am very thankful for these opportunities and for my mentors.”