How Do We Help Older Georgians Age in Place? Emory Students Share Solutions

What if you could share your idea for how to tackle a major public health problem and present it to health leaders while you’re still a student? Emory students competing in the Intramural Global Health Case Competition recently did exactly that as they worked on one of the biggest problems facing Georgia today: supporting the state’s aging population. 

Georgians Are Getting Older, But Lack Support

As people live longer, more older adults want to remain in their homes and communities. In Georgia, 85% of adults say they prefer to age in place. Yet for many, that goal remains out of reach. Why?

Fragmented information, siloed systems, and overall confusion navigating options make it difficult for people and their caregivers to achieve this desire. It is a problem that could get significantly worse. By 2035, Georgia will have more people aged 65 and older than those 18 or younger.

University-Wide Collaborations Spark Big Ideas

Students across Emory University recently tackled this problem and came up with potential solutions during the annual Intramural Emory Global Health Case Competition. Students pulled together their own teams with representation across the university. All teams placing in the top three had student membership from the Rollins School of Public Health.

The winning team, composed of Ayana Isobe, MD (Rollins); Liping Chen (Rollins); Jon Hamilton (Laney Graduate School); Mai Terashima (Goizueta Business School); Harsh Tilwani (Goizueta Business School)l and Robert Blakes (Emory School of Medicine) proposed that the state adopt a data-driven “Village” model to help connect local hubs with district and state resources. Isobe, a second-year student in the Department of Health Policy and Management brought firsthand knowledge to the team from her time working as a doctor on a remote, aging island of Japan.

“This case competition was a meaningful experience for me, not only as a teamwork opportunity, but also because it highlighted how many regions around the world, including Georgia, are confronting similar issues,” says Isobe. “I was especially interested to see how the Village model is being adapted across different contexts.”

Integrated Approach Reinforces Community

The winning team conducted community needs assessments based on demographic and geographic data from various counties in Georgia and reviewed case studies from the U.S. and globally. They were inspired by the Village Movement in the United States, a grassroots, member-driven model that enables older adults to age in place through community-coordinated services.

Their final proposal was a community-powered intervention that paired risk-mapping technology (helping to identify at-risk participants) and existing services with trained Village promoters to connect members and services for a nominal fee. This model could exist without continuous government support.

“The case, Aging in Place in Georgia: The 2035 Dilemma, pushed teams to move beyond individual-level solutions and design integrated approaches that address caregiving capacity, workforce constraints, and the role of community-based care,” says Farah Farah-Naaz Dharamshi, director of programs for the Hubert Department of Global Health. “A defining feature of the experience is the opportunity for students to engage directly with judges; leaders across academia, policy, ethics and practice who challenge teams to think more critically and ground their ideas in real-world constraints.

“The winning team distinguished itself by advancing a thoughtful, systems-level strategy that was both innovative and grounded in the realities facing families and providers. Their success reflects the strength of interdisciplinary collaboration at Rollins and Emory.”

Second and Third Place Winners

Second Place | C3 Georgia: Connected Care, Coordination & Communities

Martin Mňahončák, PhD (Rollins); Anderson Galiotte (Rollins); Tariq Jagnarine (Rollins); Sophie Kim (Emory College); Isabelle Ma (Emory College); Sarita Yadav (Laney Graduate School)

Third Place | Georgia Inclusive Aging in Place Network (GA-AIPN)

Paul Suder (Rollins), Rebecca Benson (Rollins), Victoria Wright (Rollins), Dheeraj Makkar (School of Medicine), Soha Sewani (Emory College), Malina Gadsden (Emory College)

Tackling Food Aid in International Competition

After winning the Intramural Global Health Case Competition, Isobe and her teammates went on to take third at the Emory Morningside Global Health Case Competition, an international competition that included students from 31 universities representing six countries.

“This experience was both challenging and inspiring,” says Isobe. “Collaborating with the incredible team I met at Emory to address a complex, real-world issue was truly exciting. I especially valued our interdisciplinary collaboration, which brought together diverse skills and perspectives. The opportunity to connect with advisors, judges, and participants from a wide range of backgrounds also made the experience especially memorable.”