INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH EDUCATION IN COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONG HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS

An innovative gerontology education program was developed to advance research on aging that is interdisciplinary and promotes the translation of knowledge from lab to life. The program focuses on communication and social interaction in healthy aging. It brings together faculty mentors, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows from six different postsecondary institutions in Canada. The program unifies basic laboratory research in hearing, vision, and cognition with applied research in audiology, biomedical engineering, optometry, psychology, speech-language pathology, human factors, and social work. The design, implementation, and evaluation of the first year of the program are described and future directions are suggested.     

DEVELOPING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY GERIATRIC CURRICULUM: THE PERILS AND PAYOFFS OF COLLABORATION

Almost all of the emphasis within interdisciplinary education in geriatrics has focused on the training of clinical teams, to the exclusion of an appreciation for the unique issues facing educational teams. This paper explores the perils and payoffs of the development and implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum by an inter-institutional faculty team at the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center (RIGEC). Following a discussion of the principles and concepts guiding the development of the curriculum - an interdisciplinary team approach, a goal-based focus, and continuous quality improvement - the structure and implementation of the curriculum development are described. Special attention is directed toward process and outcome evaluation issues. Lastly, recommendations related to the educational team process are suggested as guidelines for faculty developing academic teams in gerontology and geriatrics. Overall, the unique and multifaceted challenges of educational teams are highlighted and lessons learned from the RIGEC experience summarized.     

TRANSFORMING OLDER ADULT EDUCATION: AN EMERGING PARADIGM FROM A NATIONWIDE STUDY

Educational opportunities for older adults have changed dramatically in the past 20 years due, in part, to the rise of new institutions (e.g., learning in retirement institutes, Shepherd's Centers, OASIS institutes) and modification to earlier programs based in senior centers and community colleges. Little systematic research has examined the shared characteristics of these program types—how the are organized, funded, governed and so on. In response, with funding from the AARP Andrus Foundation, a national study of older adult education organizations was conducted during 1992‐1993. A “Critical Pathways Taxonomy” was devised in surveying 260 organizations that provide educational programs for seniors. Five program models were studied and compared. New roles for older learners were identified in areas of planning, teaching, governance, and community service. The study suggests that a new paradigm of older adult education is emerging.     

TEACHING ABOUT OLDER PEOPLE WITH MENTAL RETARDATION: AN EDUCATIONAL MODEL

Extended lifespans and an increase in community‐based services have created an environment in which it is imperative that educational and service systems focus attention on older people with developmental disabilities. Although the cumulative effects of growing older with a lifelong disability create a unique set of issues and service needs, gerontology courses seldom include content on these elders. An insufficient educational focus translates into a service system inadequately prepared to meet critical individual needs. In this paper we describe an educational model used to prepare students to work with older people who have mental retardation. Students in the course described, part of the Interdisciplinary Leadership Training Program in Aging and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Georgia, are exposed to the ecological perspective as a way to examine various issues related to the aging population with mental retardation. Students explore issues relevant to older individuals with mental retardation and the various contexts in which these individuals function. The six units of the course are: overview of the older population with mental retardation, physiological issues, mental health issues, social support systems, service delivery networks, and legal and ethical concerns. Content from the course model can easily be infused into foundation gerontology courses to expose a greater number of students to the group of older people who have mental retardation.     

INTERNET USE AMONG YOUNG AND OLDER ADULTS: RELATION TO PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Past research found a negative impact of Internet use on psychological well-being of young adults. This finding conflicted with the emerging literature on Internet use among older adults, which usually suggested positive effects. The goals of the current research were a) to examine age differences in psychological well-being, b) to study the impact of Internet use on psychological well-being of young and older adults, and c) to explore group differences between older Internet users and nonusers of psychological well-being and personal characteristics. Three hundred and ninety-six young and older adults completed a survey on internet use and psychological well-being. Young and older adults were found to differ on dimensions of psychological well-being. In addition, older Internet users were more positive than non-users concerning psychological well-being and personal characteristics.     

JUDAIC STUDIES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY MODEL

An interdisciplinary approach to any body of knowledge necessarily involves a confluence of diverse scholarly interests and distinct areas of expertise. The study of Judaism lends itself precisely to such interdisciplinarity, and is especially appropriate for an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum.     

RECEPTIVITY TO PEER TEACHING AND PEER LEARNING ABOUT THE SAFE AND APPROPRIATE USE OF MEDICATIONS AMONG OLDER ADULTS

The purpose of this study was to assess receptivity to peer teaching and peer learning about the safe and appropriate use of medications among communitydwelling older adults. The sample was predominately White (88.5%), female (75.9%) older adults with an average age of 80.2 ( - 9.1) years. On average, the participants perceived their health status as good (2.8 - 0.6). In addition, participants reported using an average number of 4.4 ( - 3.3) prescribed medications. The majority (75%) of participants also reported no problems with their medications. With respect to receptivity to peer teaching and peer learning, the participants, on average, were neutral to peer teaching (6.0 - 2.4), but were somewhat receptive to peer learning (6.7 - 2.2). The number of prescribed medications that a participant reported taking and the age of a participant were identified as significant predictors of receptivity to peer teaching and accounted for 14.5% of the total variance ( F = 5.84, df = 2, p = 0.005). For receptivity to peer learning, the number of prescribed medications also was a significant predictor ( F = 7.50, df = 1, p = 0.008). This study provides the initial step to identifying community-dwelling older adults who would be receptive to peer teaching and peer learning about the safe and appropriate use of medications.     

HIGHER EDUCATION AND OLDER PEOPLE: SOME THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS,PART II

In this paper disengagement, activity, lifespan, subcultural and continuity theories of social gerontology are described and criticized. Each perspective is then used to interpret participation in higher education by older students. An argument is made that continuity theory holds the most promise in accounting for older students. A suggestion is made that we need to reconsider the ways we think of older people and stress the positive roles of old age in and of themselves.     

ETHNICITY,AGING, AND HEALTH: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERIENCE

Recent trends in geriatric care have focused on the importance of teamwork through interdisciplinary interaction as a means of improving and maintaining the quality of life for clients and their families, while at the same time fostering professional growth of the health care providers. However, the literature is sparse on how university students are prepared through interdisciplinary team approaches to work effectively with geriatric clients in a diverse cultural environment. This article discusses how one undergraduate course was developed and implemented using an interdisciplinary focus to help students learn about ethnicity, health, and older adults. To begin the interdisciplinary focus, an interdisciplinary advisory team was assembled. This team was instrumental in guiding the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating this course. Recommendations from both the students and the advisory team demonstrate that a combination of team learning and multicultural education is essential to empower students to acquire skills for cross‐cultural work.     

LITERARY DISCUSSION WITH OLDER ADULTS: AN EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Adults in later years of life continue to have educational needs and concomitant abilities to learn. Most diversionary programs do not fulfill those needs. The purpose of this study was to examine participation by older adults in a literary discussion group. The program was conducted with a small group (N = 9) of adults in a retirement center. Subjects indicated their motivations for attending were to learn, not be entertained. Further, evidence was presented that provided insight into the unobtrusive design of research in similar settings, and into the group dynamics and facilitation techniques of discussion groups with older adults.     

GUIDING THE OLDER LEARNER: A USE OF THE PERSONAL INVENTORY

This article suggests that the older learner, in either formal or informal study programs, benefits by participation in small group guidance sessions that are based on the personal inventory procedure. Two programs of this type were used in credit and noncredit classes with success. Wider use of this guidance method is proposed as an orientation process for individual learners and retirement career seekers.     

TECHNOLOGY IN COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS THAT SERVE OLDER PEOPLE: HIGH TECH MEETS HIGH TOUCH

Appropriate implementation of information technology (IT) can help create a more efficient, less costly, and higher-quality service-delivery environment for community-based organizations that serve older people. Relevant studies and reports on technology in healthcare can be compared and applied to these organizations. This study is the result of an assessment and analysis of the technological needs of 17 community-based organizations that serve older people in Orange County, California. Preliminary results suggest that appropriate implementation of technology, along with complementary workflow processes and positive attitudes toward technology usage, might lead to improvements in the level and quality of service in these agencies.     

EFFECTS OF AGE AND INSTRUCTIONS ON TEACHING OLDER ADULTS TO USE ELDERCOMM,AN ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM

This study focused on how to train older adults to perform computer procedures. Young-old (aged 60 74 years) and old-old (aged 75 years and older) adults were instructed on how to use ELDERCOMM , an electronic bulletin board system using one of two types of text-based instructions. The first set of directions consisted of illustrated, step-by-step instructions (simple condition). The second set of directions included the same step-by-step instructions as in the first set, but explanatory information about how the bulletin board system worked was added before the     

学习化课程刍论:文化哲学的观点

文化的本质是人的自我生命存在及其活动。课程是进入教育领域的特殊文化 ,其特质是人的学习生命存在及其优化活动。人类发展史和个体发展史孕育了课程的学习化特质 ,当代社会的转型展现出课程的学习生命关联的内涵 ,而教育改革创新则赋予了课程以许多学习“活动”样式     

THE RIGIDLY STRUCTURED CURRICULUM: AN OBSTACLE TO STUDENT MOBILITY

The mobility of students, especially their ability to move from one university to another without having to take extra time to obtain an academic degree, is greatly hindered if the curricula in the parent institution are rigidly structured and contain a predefined schedule for all courses or for the large majority of them.     

LEADING GROUPS OF OLDER PEOPLE: A DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION OF THE EDUCATION OF PROFESSIONALS

With the substantial growth of an aging population, professionals in gerontology need to know how to work with groups of older people. Group work has become a popular means of helping the elderly, for example, to cope with losses (support groups) and to engage in social activities with peers (groups in day centers) as well as to support caregivers of dementia patients (caregivers' groups). We started group interventions to relieve loneliness among older people and developed long-term training to enhance the group leadership skills of professionals and to promote their self-reflection capabilities. Our training process consciously took advantage of constructive learning theory and a reflective learning model. The education process used modern activating learning methods to attain its goals. In this article we describe the main steps of this educational process and show the results of the trainees' evaluation, how they experienced the training process, and how the learning objectives were achieved.     

DEPRESSION AMONG ETHNICALLY DIVERSE OLDER WOMEN: THE ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND COGNITIVE FACTORS

Research has identified a strong relationship between depression and demographic factors such as income and widowed status. Prior studies have also linked common cognitive “slips” to depressive symptomatology. However, very little research has investigated these relationships with respect to the older adult population, particularly within ethnic minorities. To address this gap in the literature, the present study examined the contribution of demographic and cognitive factors to depressive symptomatology among 228 noninstitutionalized women (60 years of age or older) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The findings identified a significant relationship between depressive symptomatology and cognitive failure, low income, and Middle-Eastern or American-Indian descent.     

ATTITUDES OF OLDER WOMEN TOWARD CONTINUING ADULT EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL: IMPLICATIONS FOR PROGRAM CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Current low rates of participation by elderly people in formal learning situations may be improved by developing programs that consider their attitudes, learning interests, and needs. This study was conducted to examine the attitudes of potential participants in continuing education programs concerning (1) factors that would reduce anxiety and (2) appropriate educational experiences given the abilities and learning needs of the target group.

Twenty‐seven white predominantly upper middle‐class, highly educated women aged 65 years and over were given a questionnaire concerning attitudes toward continuing education. Most (89%) indicated an interest in taking humanities classes (i.e., history, literature, music, languages, and current affairs). In addition, 55% preferred the lecture format; 81% preferred mixed ages in classes; 48% reported interest in having a companion enroll with them; and 65% reported that family members did not suggest that they enroll.

Highly educated elderly women appear interested in taking universitylevel classes. Future research should examine whether there is an increase in enrollment in programs specifically designed to meet their needs and interests. Caution is advised in generalizing results of need and attitude assessment of highly educated old people to less economically, occupationally, and educationally privileged elderly.