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GLOBAL
OBSERVATORY
OF LONG-TERM
CARE

Part of the International Long-Term Care Policy Network (ILPN)

 

Rahimah Ibrahim

Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Rahimah Ibrahim

Dr. Rahimah Ibrahim is a dedicated educator, researcher, and consultant in the fields of ageing and human services. She serves as a faculty member in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and as Director of the Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing). Through her pioneering efforts, Dr. Rahimah founded a multi-disciplinary research program focused on advancing the care of older persons, uniting experts across various fields to address key issues, including aged care systems, economic impacts, workforce training, environmental support, and gerontechnology.

In her teaching role, Dr. Rahimah is deeply committed to nurturing the next generation of professionals in ageing studies, delivering courses on adult development, ageing, and social gerontology. Her research is centered on developing robust support systems for eldercare and exploring the dynamics of formal and informal caregiving within Malaysia’s rapidly changing demographic landscape.

Dr. Rahimah’s contributions to research are substantial and influential, with notable projects on the psychosocial aspects of dementia care (University of Sydney), caregiving relationships in Asian societies (Kyoto University), filial responsibility among young adults (Tokyo Christian Women’s University), and the standards of residential care in Malaysia (Ministry of Higher Education). Her work on structural needs in the aged care sector aims to prepare Malaysia for the challenges of 2030, supported by the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development.

Dr. Rahimah has also contributed significantly to national educational and policy development. Recently, she played a key role in the national curriculum review for the vocational subject of Basic Gerontology and Geriatrics, striving to provide Malaysia’s youth with foundational eldercare skills. Her insights have further guided national policy initiatives, including her contributions to the PEMANDU lab on senior living and her advisory roles in the National Advisory and Consultative Council on Older Persons (Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development), Advisory Council for National Health Policy for Older Persons (Ministry of Health), and Caregiver Council (Kendana). Through her work, Dr. Rahimah remains a guiding influence on aged care policy, education, and research, shaping the field both nationally and internationally.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Countries Malaysia;
Topics Access to care; Ageing in place; Attitudes and Expectations about Long-Term Care; Care economy; Care Homes; Care in rural and other non-urban settings; Care innovations; Care integration/ coordination; Care trajectories; Care work and migration; Dementia care and support; Employment education and family carers; Gender and care; Home/domiciliary care; Housing and care; Local care ecosystems; Loneliness among older people; LTC Policy; LTC Systems; LTC Workforce; Social connection; Social Innovation in LTC; Stigma and discrimination; Unmet needs; Unpaid / informal care;
Methods Creative research methods; Document analysis; Expert consultations; Focus groups; Literature reviews and synthesis; Policy analysis; Qualitative studies; Quasi-experimental methods; Scoping reviews; Service mapping; Systematic Review; Thematic analysis; Theory and frameworks; Translation and cultural adaptation of instruments;
Role Research;
Interest Groups Ageing and Place; Care home markets and regulation; Community-based approaches to dementia care; Data Science; Economics of Long-Term Care; Long-Term Care Policy; Migration Mobility and Care Workers; Quality improvement in Long-Term Care; Quasi-experimental methods; Strengthening Responses to Dementia; Technology and Long-Term Care; Unmet need inequalities and care poverty (UNICAP); Workforce Capacity and Capability; Working Conditions and Wages in Long-Term Care;
Websitehttps://myageing.upm.edu.my/about_us/the_director_message/directors_message-58951
ORC.ID0000-0003-2102-141X
Other 1https://mtap.io/mtapni6ajuj66o;
Other 2https://eco1.upm.edu.my/department/department_of_human_development_and_family_studies/department_staff-32453?L=en;
Research interests

social gerontology; social isolation; social frailty; aged care; community based care; lifelong learning for older persons.
Key publications

Hamid, T. A., Salih, S. A., Abdullah, S. F. Z., Ibrahim, R., & Mahmud, A. (2024). Characterization of social frailty domains and related adverse health outcomes in the Asia-Pacific: a systematic literature review. PeerJ, 12, e17058.

Hasmuk, K., Sallehuddin, H., Tan, M. P., Cheah, W. K., Ibrahim, R., & Chai, S. T. (2020). The long term care COVID-19 situation in Malaysia. International Long-Term Care Policy Network, 1-20.

Ibrahim, R., Tan, J. P., Hamid, T. A., & Ashari, A. (2018). Cultural, demographic, socio-economic background and care relations in Malaysia. In Care Relations in Southeast Asia (pp. 41-98). Brill.

Tan, J. P., & Ibrahim, R. (2018). Care Relations within the family. In Care relations in Southeast Asia (pp. 199-238). Brill.

Minh, N. H., Thi, T. T. M., Wongboonsin, P., Tan, J. P., & Ibrahim, R. (2019). Care relations among non-coresident families. Care relations in Southeast Asia: The family and beyond, 239-280.