Aging in Displacement: Assessing Health Status of Displaced Older Adults in the Republic of Georgia

Older adults displaced by natural disaster or conflict have been largely overlooked in humanitarian emergencies, and their physical and mental health conditions are too poorly measured. Displacement has also become an increasingly protracted experience: by 2004, the average length of displacement in 30 humanitarian crises worldwide was 17 years. In the Republic of Georgia roughly 230,000 people have been displaced for over 16 years; of these, nearly 30% are aged 60 or older and three-quarters live in urban areas. Renewed conflict in August 2008 displaced another group of 26,000 with similar age and settlement patterns. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are collaborating with the Institute for Policy Studies in Tbilisi, Georgia to conduct a one-year, mixed-methods study from August 2010 to July 2011. The first phase of the study has included include formative, qualitative research to develop, pilot then validate an assessment tool to measure physical and mental health status of displaced older adults. The second phase of the study will involve implementation of a 30-cluster, 900-household sample survey of displaced older adults, stratifying by urban and non-urban, and “protracted” and shorter-term populations. This will be supplemented by a small study of around 50 Chechen refugees. The third phase of the study will focus on disseminating key findings for health and humanitarian programs in Georgia as well as broader recommendations for humanitarian policies and programs for displaced older adults. Results of all three phases of the study will be summarized and presented to session participants