We are proud to share that researchers at the International Executive School have collaborated with colleagues at the University of the West Indies and Sharda University on a new study published in The Gerontologist.

Most research on positive aging has been shaped by Western ideas that prize independence, productivity, and biomedical health, even though these ideas are far from universal. Indo-Caribbean communities, despite making up a significant share of the population in both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, have remained largely absent from this body of research. This study set out to change that, asking Indo-Caribbean adults of retirement age what aging well actually means to them.

Three themes emerged. The first centred on family: participants described aging well as remaining needed and capable within family life, whether by offering financial support, being consulted on important decisions, or simply showing up, even across the distances created by migration abroad.

The second theme spoke to faith and culture. Daily prayer, religious observance, and the passing down of cooking, language, and ancestral stories were described not just as personal practices but as a kind of duty, a way of keeping culture alive for the next generation.

The third theme turned to health. Many participants spoke of bush medicine, herbal remedies, and traditional foods as forms of ancestral wisdom, used alongside, not instead of, biomedical care.

Together, these findings suggest that for Indo-Caribbean communities, aging well is rooted less in personal independence and more in relational interdependence, cultural custodianship, and the steady transmission of knowledge across generations, beliefs shaped by indentureship history, transnational family life, and ongoing cultural negotiation. The study’s authors note that these insights carry real implications for healthcare professionals, community programmes, and policymakers working with Indo-Caribbean older adults throughout the Caribbean and its diaspora.

We congratulate the research team and are proud to see the International Executive School represented in a scholarship that centres voices too often left out of the conversation on aging.

Reference:
Naipaul, R., Bacchus, S., Bachan-Persad, I., Gangai, K. N., & Naipaul, J. (2026). Beyond independence: Beliefs about positive aging among Indo-Caribbean people in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The Gerontologist, gnag128. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnag128