MALCOLM SUJEETH RAVINDRAN

M.Soc.Sci Student

Research Title: Constraining Life Space: The Impact of Urban Stressors on Older Persons in Singapore
Research Group: Social and Cultural Geographies (SCG)
Thesis Advisor: Prof Elaine Ho

In my previous experience as a nurse, social worker, and research assistant, I have worked extensively with older persons in the community to provide and refine medical & social care services across a wide spectrum of settings. In my previous research work at the Centre for Ageing Research & Education, Duke-NUS, I have looked at conceptual understandings of loneliness in older persons, climate stress, and the relationship of lived environment with health, well-being, and sense of place.

Through my Master’s thesis, I seek to understand how structural factors such as spatial control, technological transitions, and economic priorities shape diverse older persons’ capacities to respond to urban stress. I also aim to unravel the complex mechanisms by which urban stressors differentially impact older persons across spatial levels and systems. Concomitantly, this work will examine how the same structural factors also shape older persons’ responses to stress. Specifically, I wish to also uncover how older persons from different backgrounds recruit and mobilise resources from their social networks in order to retain a sense of well-being.