Guyanese-American social worker co-authors new study on what “ageing well” really means for our elders

Jun 28, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Guyanese-American social worker Roy Naipaul, a PhD Candidate has spent years sitting with older clients, listening to how they really feel about growing old.

Over time, he noticed something: Guyanese elders found wellbeing in old age through family closeness and being needed, not through the independence and self-reliance social workers are trained to look for and help develop in their American clients.

This prompted his interest in research which produced the landmark study titled Beyond Independence: Beliefs about Positive Ageing among Indo-Caribbean People in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

To complete his research, Naipaul partnered with Dr. Indrani Bachan-Persad of the University of the West Indies and Dr. Khagendra Nath Gangai of Sharda University in Greater Noida, India, and together they asked Caribbean elders directly what ageing well meant to them.

They spoke with Caribbean elders across Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.  The study published on 12th June 2026 in The Gerontologist– the flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America.

Expounding the importance of this new data, the PhD candidate stressed that much of what social workers are trained to do, and the social services built around that training, including elder care programmes, comes from research done on White, Christian populations in America and Europe, not the Caribbean.

He noted while, “That research is not wrong; it accurately reflects the people it studied. The trouble is that it has often been treated as the universal truth about what ageing well looks like, rather than one culture’s particular answer.”

According to the US-based social worker, for decades, it boiled down to three rules: stay independent; stay productive; do not become a burden on anybody.

He pointed out that while those rules shaped many elder care programmes globally, often without anyone asking whether they fit the local culture.

In the context of Guyana, Naipaul pointed out that the country has not yet built large-scale elder care programmes of its own, which is exactly why timing matters.

He said, “This new study about Guyana is asking directly: how do we build elder care that reflects Guyanese culture, rather than one borrowed from somewhere else? It is worth thinking about at any age, since growing old is something we will all face.”

To find out, the research team spoke directly with some elders in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The research confirmed what he had sensed. Being needed mattered more than being self-sufficient.

He asserted, “Many elders were still providing for their families, guiding their children and grandchildren, still the first person the family called when something went wrong, even with children scattered as far as New York, Toronto, or London. Staying woven into family life, not stepping back from it, was at the heart of what it meant to be doing well. Faith and culture ran deeper than personal comfort. Prayers, cooking, and passing down old stories were described as a duty: keeping the culture alive for the grandchildren, not just a way to pass the time.”

Naipaul said many elders spoke about leaning on traditional remedies and food as medicine, used alongside doctors, not as a replacement. To them, that knowledge carries its own weight.

He believes that the data matters for Guyana right now given that the government has stepped up support for seniors, from pensions to outreaches for those too frail to leave home, a gesture many elders welcome.

“This research builds on that momentum by pointing to what else matters to an elder’s wellbeing: family staying close, culture staying alive, being respected for their wisdom, and grandchildren visiting or calling regularly,” he asserted.

He underscored that in many Guyanese families, grandparents live with an adult child, often a married daughter, rather than alone or in a care facility; nursing homes are uncommon and often carry stigma.

He believes as Guyana grows fast and invests in its people, this research can be used, to build elder care around what Guyanese people themselves value.

Naipaul is not stopping here. He is now leading a continuing effort with a team of Caribbean professors, drawn from the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana, to push this research further, with the goal of shaping programmes that genuinely improve the health and wellbeing of Guyana’s elderly population.

As that work continues, the US-based Guyanese Social Worker is becoming a leading voice in the push to make sure Guyana’s elder care preserves the dignity, culture, and community of aging citizens.

This initial research is pointing against “warehousing” elders in impersonal institutions, promoting systems that truly reflect Guyanese values and the nuclear family structures.

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• ageing well, elders, social worker

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