Paying tribute to Dr. Jacob John Kattakayam
GAROP would like to pay tribute to Professor Jacob John Kattakayam of the Centre for Gerontological Studies who sadly passed away on 7th December 2019 following a short illness. Professor Kattakayam was a tireless advocate for older people’s human rights and a UN convention and attended many of the UN’s Open-ended Working Group on Ageing sessions in New York. He was recently elected to serve on the GAROP Steering Group and helped to organise a successful GAROP regional members workshop in Kerala in November.
Professor Kattakayam was an incredibly accomplished professional with almost four decades of study and research experience on older people’s issues. He was the Vice-President of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Ageing. He was previously the President of the Indian Sociological Society and the former Director of the UGC Academic Staff College & Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Kerala. Professor Kattakayam specialised in work around dementia and palliative care for older people. He also took up elder abuse as a special concern and helped to set up Vigilance Committees in several rural and urban locations to prevent its occurrence. He was a committed member of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and also organised a number of highly successful international conferences on older people’s rights and elder abuse.
Professor Kattakayam was a kind and generous person who was well-liked and respected by so many people worldwide. His passing is a huge loss. We will remain inspired by Professor Kattakayam’s work and will always treasure our memories of him.