Meet our GERI Researchers | Dr Jonathan Gao

Dr Jonathan Gao is a Research Fellow at GERI. His current research focus is on caregiving burden experienced by informal caregivers as well as evidence synthesis. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a PhD in Social Science.

In this series featuring GERI's researchers, we catch up with Dr Gao on the knock-on effects of caregiver stress, the challenges that a shifting healthcare landscape may pose for Singapore's seniors, and why video games can be helpful.

How did you first get into research? 

Originally, I took an undergraduate degree in psychology as I wanted to work towards becoming a psychologist. During my honours year, I was involved in a research project on hazard perception for drivers and I enjoyed the experience. That was when I started to consider a career in research. I became aware of an opening for a PhD research project in a conversation with  my university Professor and decided to go for it.

What sparked your interest in studying ageing?

I enjoyed my PhD research experience but thought that my work was far too abstract, and wanted to work on projects that were more concrete and meaningful. By chance, I came across a vacancy for a research position at GERI. Reading up about the Institute, I thought that the work done was meaningful and highly relevant to Singapore, given our ageing population. Hence my interest in this area was piqued.

What are you currently working on? 

Currently, I am working on a review examining the influence of different factors on caregiving, which I hope can be used to inform GERI’s future research on caregiving. I am also involved in a project on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among older adults, and I hope that our findings can be helpful in guiding policymakers if a similar pandemic were to occur in the future.

You have delved into some compelling ageing issues such as COVID-19 vaccination for frail older persons and caregiver support. As Singapore shifts to living with COVID and steps down from acute to community care, what do you think are some possible challenges facing our seniors?  

One challenge is in getting older adults to keep their COVID-19 vaccination status up-to-date. Some older adults that I have interacted with are not keen on the idea of additional boosters, either because they no longer see COVID-19 as a major issue or because they have some lingering doubts about the vaccine. Even as efforts are being made to lower the barriers to vaccination for older adults and encourage them to be vaccinated, there may be some difficulties in protecting this vulnerable group.

Another challenge is that many older adults are cared for by informal caregivers (e.g. their adult children or foreign domestic workers). This can be stressful for them, and being cared for by overburdened caregivers can lead to poorer health outcomes for older adults, or in some extreme cases, elder abuse. Hence, there is a need to reduce the burden on informal caregivers. Thankfully, awareness of this issue is starting to gain traction in Singapore, and multiple efforts are being made to help them. Hopefully, we will start to see improvements in time to come.

Why do you think your work at GERI is important and what kind of impact do you ultimately hope to create? 

It is commonly accepted in Singapore that adult children should be ‘filial’ and take care of their ageing parents. Hence, there is a certain stigma against using care services such as day care and nursing homes. However, caregiving can take a heavy toll on adult children caregivers and overwhelm hired foreign domestic workers (FDW). These are difficult issues, but I hope that my work can have a small impact on reducing the stigma against the use of care services, improve the utility of such services for caregivers, and to reduce the toll of caregiving for both adult children and FDW.

What do you like about working at GERI and what have been some memorable experiences so far? 

I would say that GERI has a supportive environment for researchers and a wide network, allowing me to collaborate with healthcare professionals and researchers from other institutions on interesting projects.

The most memorable experience so far was embarking on a rapid review combined with a Delphi study on COVID-19 vaccination for frail older adults. Back then, COVID-19 vaccines had just become available in Singapore, and there was an urgency to make sense of the limited evidence available on these vaccines in relation to frail older adults, in order to guide healthcare practitioners. This was my first research project after joining GERI and I was excited to work on a timely and meaningful study, and to make a small contribution to the national fight against the virus.

What are some personal interests and activities that you do in your spare time that help protect against functional decline?

I like to run and let my mind wander to get that runner’s high and to let my mind take a break. Aside from that, I am generally a homebody, preferring to stay at home with a good book or game. I like to think that playing video games helps with mental agility too, given that it requires some thinking and planning.