We are proud to share that two of our PhD students, Khin Zaw Aung and Htet Phyo Aung, have had their research accepted and published in the Official Conference Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2026.

Their paper, “Aging Under Crisis: The Compounding Challenges of Healthy Aging in Post-coup Myanmar,” addresses one of the most overlooked dimensions of Myanmar’s ongoing political crisis: what it means to grow old in a society under profound and sustained upheaval.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 26 retirees across both urban and rural settings, the research explores how the instability that followed Myanmar’s 2021 political transition has dismantled the very conditions that make healthy aging possible. The findings reveal three deeply human stories: the erosion of psychological wellbeing as chronic fear and uncertainty take hold; the collapse of healthcare access and financial security; and the grief experienced by older adults who can no longer fulfill the caregiving and family roles that are central to their sense of identity and dignity.

Rooted in the cultural realities of Myanmar, including Theravada Buddhist values of equanimity and the filial bonds that define wellbeing in Southeast Asian societies, this research offers a rare and important perspective that goes far beyond statistics. It challenges humanitarian frameworks that overlook how older people themselves understand and experience aging well, and makes a strong case for responses that are culturally informed and human-centred.

As one of the first studies to examine healthy aging through the lens of lived experience in a conflict-affected setting, this work has real implications for how international organisations and policymakers support older adults in crisis contexts around the world.

We congratulate Khin Zaw Aung and Htet Phyo Aung on this significant achievement and the important contribution they are making to global gerontology scholarship.

Read the full paper here: https://papers.iafor.org/submission105576/