Diving Headfirst into Safeguarding

By: Bella Ozomaro, CAS ’23

Bella at “A Tiny Hidden Beach” in Howth, Ireland

Nursing Research in Dublin – Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

This summer, I am assisting Dr. Amanda Phelan, Professor in Ageing & Community Nursing at Trinity College Dublin, in her research project on safeguarding adults at risk of abuse. For the first two weeks of the eight-week program, I specifically explored the parameters of financial abuse and its implications in vulnerable groups, from elders with and without psychiatric and cognitive impairments to battered women whose abusers are their partners. Later in the internship, I will observe focus groups that look at how definitions and approaches to tackle financial abuse become tricky to decipher when financial institutions, safeguarding advocates, and health professionals all have conflicting ideas. By the end of the summer, I will be a co-author to a written journal article. Our findings will directly influence safeguarding practices conducted by non-government organizations, such as Sage Advocacy and Safeguarding Ireland. 

This project is important to Dr. Phelan because as a former public health nurse, she witnessed frequent maltreatment directed toward people who lacked the capacity to fully protect themselves from exploitation. Many times, perpetrators of abuse are the elder’s own family, with adult children being the most common. This feature of abuse can make protecting the elder difficult as intruding in one’s family affairs is complex. Dr. Phelan characterizes the empathy and sensitivity for this line of work. Her work mostly deals with geriatric care, as the elderly are at the forefront of vulnerable individuals. 

I chose to take on a Research Assistant role for this project because as someone with extensive experience caring for marginalized groups (veterans, women, low-income children), the chance to spend my entire summer investigating ways to minimize oppression experienced by elders was very intriguing. Everyone deserves comprehensive care, and age/disability shouldn’t act as a barrier. I am constantly refining the ways in which I act with compassion and view research subjects as three-dimensional individuals and not mere statistics. 

I appreciate the international aspect of this program because it allows me to understand safeguarding operations from an international lens and recognize that elder abuse is a global phenomenon (Also, Dublin in the summertime is beautiful!). I hope to bring the knowledge I will have gained from this program back to my endeavors at home, from existing and future research efforts, volunteer roles, and career paths. I’m excited to make a difference in the field and dive headfirst into the ins and outs of the Irish safeguarding and nursing industries!

The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce.

GRIP Program Information