Social Worker Studies Health and Aging Issues in Bolivia

September 13, 2004 — Social work Assistant Professor Denise Gammonley joined several other UCF professors and a few Brevard County school teachers on a 38-day trip to Bolivia, where they participated in a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad from June 22 through July 29.

Gammonley’s interest in issues of gerontology, mental health and aging allowed her the opportunity to visit nursing homes and hospitals for the mentally ill throughout the South American country. Her project, “Intergenerational Care-Giving in Transmigrant Bolivian Families,” was based on research gathered at these locations, where she learned about the system of care for older people and resources available for formal health-care services.

The focus of her study was to explore potential associations between care-giving responsibilities, family attachment patterns, and health and well-being among elders who remain in Bolivia while younger adult children migrate to the United States. Gammonley said people migrate for various reasons, including educational and job opportunities, to join other family members living abroad or to obtain needed health care.

Additional learning experiences for Gammonley and the rest of the group included economic development, popular participation in government, energy policies, drug policies, educational reform of public school systems, theater and culture. They attended numerous lectures, visited historic sites, museums and churches in a variety of cities and towns across Bolivia, including La Paz — the country’s capital city — Copacabana, Sucre, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.

“It was total immersion in the culture of Bolivia,” Gammonley said.

– Angie Lewis