Every time Gehreen Brar (BPH ’24) counts to three in Punjabi — ikk, do, tinn — her beloved Indian grandmother springs to mind.

“She was the first person who taught me how to count, read and write in Punjabi,” she says. “Without my Grandma, I would lose the vocabulary.”

Brar, who graduated with a Bachelor of Public Health on Wednesday, June 12 during Brock’s 115th Convocation, says her “Grandma” is the rock that grounds her in the culture and values of her heritage, providing strength and guidance in all areas of her life.

Without her grandmother, she adds, “I feel like there would be a missing link.”

As Brar advanced through her studies, she was curious as to whether her peers had similar relationships to their grandparents, as well as the role the older generation played in those students’ lives.

Under the supervision of Associate Professor of Health Sciences Pauli Gardner, Brar created a thesis project to answer those questions.

While reviewing the existing research on intergenerational relationships, Brar observed that many studies on grandparent-grandchild relationships tended to focus on the young person’s perspective.

“I thought, maybe we should hear from the grandparents,” she says.

Her research involved interviewing two sets of grandparent-grandchild duos, drawing upon experiences with her own grandmother to guide the process.

Questions revolved around the impact of the relationship on grandchildren and grandparents, their living arrangements, how often they spent time together and the culture, knowledge and traditions passed from one generation to the next.

Brar first met with each of the two students in one-on-one meetings online. Next, she interviewed each grandparent in person. The final set of interviews occurred with both the student and grandparent present, which also took place in person.

“Being able to observe the dynamic between grandparent and grandchild, how they spoke to one another, was my favourite part of the research,” says Brar. “When they were speaking about each other, they said such kind things — even kinder when they’re sitting next to each other.”

It was important to also interview the grandparent and grandchild separately, she says, so no one would feel pressured to censor their speech to avoid offending the other.

Brar found that both the grandparents and grandchildren reported having positive, mutually supportive relationships. When asked to share stories about what they enjoyed doing together, cooking and sharing traditional foods and rituals came up quite often.

Although her research participant pool was very small, Brar says the value of the qualitative data she compiled allowed her to gain deeper insight into grandparent-grandchild relationships and lay the groundwork for future research.

Qualitative research — which involves collecting non-numerical information such as thoughts, opinions, experiences and concepts — is typically gathered through interviews (like in Brar’s work), focus groups, videos or other forms.

She is eager to share what she’s learned about the topic so far with her peers.

“We have assumptions or stereotypes about younger or older people that we hold, even when we don’t want to,” says Brar. “When young people and their grandparents communicate, these stereotypes get broken down. There’s a lot of honesty and vulnerability there.”

Brar encourages her peers to take the time and effort to nurture relationships with their grandparents, as this connection will enrich both the students’ and grandparents’ lives.

Gardner notes that Brar’s research and her experiences with her grandmother shows the importance of intergenerational connections.

“We live in an age-segregated society, and this doesn’t serve any of us,” Gardner says.

Gardner, who leads the “Through Their Eyes” intergenerational service-learning project, adds that older adults can often feel that they don’t have anything to contribute.

The grandparent-grandchild relationships Brar studied, however, have a “reciprocity and generativity” that both benefits and celebrates the strengths of each generation.

“Intergenerational relationships help combat ageism — going both ways,” says Gardner.

Brar intends to continue her studies by pursuing a Master of Public Health at Brock — with her grandmother there to support her.