Sangita Bhatia, direct descendant of legendary poet- scholar Bhai Vir Singh, is researching a topic different to one chosen by her illustrious forefather.
Sangita Bhatia is a Researcher in Social Policy working with NGO Capacity Australia. It’s a medicolegal charity, promoting the rights of people with decision-making disability; through education, advocacy, and research.
The NGO received funding through The Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, University of Sydney to develop an e-learning module trialed on frontline banking staff. This was to give them an understanding of Dementia and to pick up red flags for signs of financial abuse towards Dementia sufferers.
Background
Sangita Bhatia was born in New Delhi, India. Her parents both studied Law at the University of Delhi.
“My mum’s grandfather was Bhai Sahib Bhai Vir Singh, a poet, philosopher and father of Punjabi literature. My father was a senior bureaucrat with Indian Railways.
My mother went into Banking. At 85, she works for the Bhai Vir Singh Trust, writing books and poetry,” Sangita explains to us in interview.
Sangita lives in Sidney, Australia.
UK Connect
Sangita says, “My association with UK has been through my father-in-law who studied at Imperial College. I visited London in 1980 as part of a Sikh Youth camp from India. Lately, my son has moved to work in London so I visit.
UK and Australia are both western societies. India is culturally different. They all share an emphasis on family life. The UK has been at the forefront of clinical and social research of ageing people suffering from cognitive decline. Australia strives to follow. In India, the abuse of parents is a growing problem. People are reluctant to come forward and seek help, so it’s hard to bring about change.”
Trajectory
Sangita comments, “In 2010, my passion for helping people motivated me to complete a Masters in Policy and Applied Social Research from Macquarie University.” She also has a Bachelor of Law and Commerce degree and has worked in retail and corporate banking.
“For my Masters I worked as an intern with Alzheimer’s Australia, researching the financial abuse of people with dementia and cognitive mental decline. I now work as a Researcher and Coordinate Training programs to make sure that people with cognitive disability make the decisions they are capable of, while safeguarding them against abuse. My first project was developing an e-learning tool which was trialled with Australia’s two leading banks. The e-tool had a 99% knowledge translation score.
My next research project was with the University of Western Sydney and Council on the Ageing. I asked - what if older people lose the capacity to make decisions in relation to their finances - will substitute decision makers have to be appointed? It is better for such substitute decision makers to be appointed in advance by the person themselves by granting Enduring Powers of Attorney. We recommended Power of Attorney legislation be amended in line with our research findings.”
Significant Breakthroughs
Sangita feels it is crucial that older people have knowledge of and be given access to advance planning tools. Cognitive and related functional decline in older people is a reality and in New South Wales alone during 2011 there were 91,308 people diagnosed with Dementia. This is projected to increase to 303,673 people by 2050. “I now work to build awareness around prevention of elder abuse. Due to our research, the NSW Government launched an inquiry into elder abuse and asked for submissions from organisations and institutions.”
Findings about the Asian community that could transfer to the UK?
In the UK a report was published in 2011 on the back of which Australian Alzheimer’s Society proposed research into financial abuse.
“Mental health has negative connotations for Indians. Shame or denial may be the response to mental illness. It may be presented to doctors as somatic (related to body as distinct from the mind) pain rather than as anxiety or depression.
Some of the factors that tend to increase the risk of mental disorder such as depression and anxiety among migrants are;
l Limited English proficiency
l Separated cultural identity
l Loss of close family ties
l Lack of opportunity to make effective use of occupational skills
l Trauma exposure prior to migrating
Solutions?
“People with dementia can be vulnerable to abuse as the disease affects their memory, judgement, attention, language, planning, behaviour, mood and personality. Having Dementia does not necessarily mean the person does not have capacity to make decisions for themselves. Dementia is a collection of symptoms that are caused by disorders of the brain. Dementia is not a normal part of ageing. As we age we must continue to be social and not live in isolation.
