Kanika Arora, associate professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health shares a bit about her work with dementia.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Kanika Arora

Kanika Arora, associate professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health, shares a bit about her work with dementia.

Tell us about your hometown; how did it shape you?

I grew up in New Delhi, India. Joint families - where multiple generations live together under the same roof - are common in India and ours was no exception. However, mine had an unusual flavor. I was mainly raised by my mother and my grandfather. My grandfather always stressed the importance of education. I know that this respect for education has, in some unconscious way, shaped my values and made me the person that I am today.

Tell us about your hobbies/outside interests.

I enjoy yoga and try to go to the studio every day. Analyzing my body and understanding how it communicates with my mind is very intriguing to me.

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

I would be a dog so I could clearly communicate to my golden retriever, Hoshi, that my food is mine and mine alone. Just kidding, I would want to say thank you to him in dog.

Can you share a recent book/movie/performance that you found compelling and why?

I recently watched the movie, "Anatomy of a Fall" and couldn't keep my eyes off the screen for the entire two hours. The movie's take on the creation of "truth" was fascinating to me.

What attracted you to the University of Iowa?

I was drawn to all the resources the College of Public Health has to offer.

What shaped your interest in your discipline?

I study population aging, caregiving, and public policy as it relates to both these topics. My grandfather had dementia and I witnessed my mother provide care for him for several years. Professionally, my advisor at Syracuse, Doug Wolf, shaped my interest in this area.

What is the best advice you received as a student and do you still follow that advice today?

My mentor in life, Daisaku Ikeda, said, "Shine where you are. Eventually, you will come to appreciate that all your efforts up to now had meaning, and that everything you have experienced is a treasure for your lives." This quote has encouraged me to try to be indispensable where I am, even if the task or job is disagreeable or hard.

Tell us about a project or achievement of which you are particularly proud.

I am currently working on a project focusing on farm families coping with dementia. Agriculture is a unique industry - extremely hazardous and one where a large proportion of the workforce is over age 65. Recently, my colleagues and I showed that dementia is more prevalent among agricultural workers. Dementia is more than a memory disease and leads to a multitude of safety concerns, further exacerbating injury risk among older farmers. Moreover, there are very few resources for farm families who provide care to an older farmer or farm resident with dementia in rural areas. Our project is funded by the CDC and the first of its kind in the country.

How do you see your work impacting your field?

My work can provide new evidence on heterogeneity in the impact of dementia among individuals and their families.

What changes are on the horizon for your work or your discipline?

As the U.S population becomes both, increasingly older and increasingly diverse, understanding disparities in the experience of dementia -- from diagnosis to differences in treatment interventions, to well-being and quality of care, including end of life care -- will become especially significant.

What piece of advice would you give to today's students?

The worst mistake you can make is to give up on yourself. The past is the past and the future is the future.

In closing, what words of wisdom would you like to share, what quotation or person inspires you, what does the next chapter look like?

Nichiren Daishonin, a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher said, "It is the heart that is important."