Interdisciplinary Gerontology Research Articles

THREE DECADES OF RESEARCH GUIDING POLICY AND POLICY GUIDING RESEARCH IN AGING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Abstract The Florida Legislature created the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging more than 30 years ago to conduct independent research and policy analyses on critical topics in aging. Housed at the University of South Florida (USF), the center brought together students and faculty to examine public policies that directly affect the health and well-being of older adults (e.g., the role of Medicaid funding in home- and community-based care and the effects of nurse staffing levels in nursing homes). As new policy questions emerge, the foundational work of the policy center continues to guide undergraduate and graduate education at the USF School of Aging Studies. This presentation describes the multiple opportunities to incorporate policy instruction into an interdisciplinary gerontology program. These opportunities depend on having faculty who maintain ties with the organizations that provide direct care and services to the public and who connect the policy lessons they learn through these relationships to their teaching and research. Another key element is access to health services data needed to answer critical policy questions. The goal of such an approach is to enable gerontology students to engage in policy analysis and development and to understand the essential links between research, public policy, and practice that improves the lives of older adults.

Interdisciplinary Gerontology in Higher Education: A Case Study From Soup to Nuts

Through the lens of a multi-year joint project initiated by faculty in Social Work and Digital Arts at Lehman College, the City University of New York's senior college in the Bronx, NY, this paper provides a guide on how to initiate, implement and evaluate interdisciplinary collaborations in gerontology. The paper also suggests ways to ensure that these collaborations can support tenure and promotion processes, funding initiatives, and pedagogical enhancements. The paper focuses on how to make use of campus resources, including departmental Chairs, research offices, and campus-wide committees to identify appropriate collaborators and funding sources; how to nurture productive interdisciplinary relationships, such as clarifying disciplinary expectations and participants' professional needs; and how to maximize return on the effort for tenure and promotion, such as producing publishable content, identifying appropriate opportunities for interdisciplinary publishing and presenting, advocating for interdisciplinary collaborations, and developing interdisciplinary syllabi, an example of evidence-based high-impact pedagogy.

Food for Thought: Culturally Diverse Older Adults' Views on Food and Meals Captured by Student-Led Digital Storytelling in the Bronx

ObjectiveThrough the lens of a digital storytelling project exploring food traditions, social connectedness, and aging among diverse older adults, this article demonstrates how innovative pedagogies can contribute to developing a more culturally responsive workforce better prepared to meet evolving needs of diverse urban communities.MethodsIn the fall of 2017, 25 undergraduate students enrolled in an interdisciplinary gerontology practice course engaged in a digital storytelling project to explore food traditions and social connectedness among older adults living in the Bronx.ResultsThe stories underscore the importance of food and meals in everyday life, particularly for people growing old far from their home of origin. The words and images indicate that food practices can assert identity, sustain cultural ties and social connectedness, and mediate losses both physical and emotional.ConclusionsThe article suggests that integrating innovative pedagogies across health profession curricula and fostering interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborations are two ways to better meet client needs. Moreover, providing opportunities for experiential learning extends higher education's commitment to integrating best practice pedagogies across the curriculum.

Introduction

The text presents the contents of the current issue of “Nauki o Wychowaniu. Studia Interdyscyplinarne” and emphasizes the context of multi-/interdisciplinary gerontology studies conducted in Poland.

HARNESSING THE NETWORK OF GERONTOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION TO IMPROVE RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES

While the workforce requires applicants trained to meet the needs of an aging population, many gerontology programs find recruiting students a challenge. Barriers to enrollment vary and are influenced by disciplinary silos, miscomprehension of terminology (such as “gerontology”), vague career paths, and limited resources. Program directors are challenged to identify innovative and new strategies that market training opportunities at a variety of levels and across colleges and departments. In an effort to harness the power of networks, it is our goal that this symposium fosters discussion in order to improve our communal approach to increase the number of individuals prepared for careers in aging. This symposium examines the recruitment experiences and challenges from the perspective of gerontology programs at four universities. Fruhauf (Colorado State University) explores the importance of university-community engagement in support of gerontology programs. Fauth and Liu (Utah State University) describe effective recruitment strategies for an interdisciplinary gerontology certificate housed within a department of Human Development and Family Studies. Eaton (University of Utah) presents the outcomes from a targeted initiative to increase early undergraduate enrollment in an interdisciplinary online gerontology minor. Finally, Yorgason (Brigham Young University) shares a systematic approach to leverage resources and fundraising that successfully increased program enrollment and faculty involvement throughout campus. Dr. Margaret B. Neal, an experienced educator and former director of the Institute on Aging at Portland State University, will facilitate discussion surrounding how we can mobilize our networks to strengthen, innovate, and expand approaches to recruitment in gerontology.

RECRUITMENT TO THE GERONTOLOGY CERTIFICATE: STRATEGIES FROM UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

There is a workforce shortage in age-related fields, in both medical and non-medical, and professional and nonprofessional employment levels. Jobs in aging-related fields are cited as growth careers, or in lists of “top ten growing jobs”, yet academic training programs in gerontology are still facing low enrollment and other long-standing barriers. Utah State University offers an interdisciplinary gerontology certificate housed within the department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS). Recruitment to the certificate is most effective from two “feeder” classes: Adult Development and Aging (in HDFS), and via a guest lecture in Community Health (in Kinesiology and Health Sciences). Face-to-face meetings with academic advisors in other departments (e.g. Nutrition) has resulted in referrals to the certificate program. Office hours and drop-ins from interested students falls on the certificate coordinator, but is essential in recruitment. In sum, face-to-face recruitment is time intensive, but significantly more effective than online/print material.

A pedagogical strategy addressing an unmet need: Making the biology of aging an accessible part of interdisciplinary gerontology education

ABSTRACTIn an age of specialization, obstacles to interdisciplinary training and integrated intellectual growth are expected. One such obstacle to graduate-level training in gerontology is the challenge of making the biology of aging accessible to nonbiologists. In this article, the authors’ aim is to share 15 years of experience developing a pedagogical strategy that situates the biology of aging as an accessible part of interdisciplinary gerontology education for nonbiologists and biologists alike. The approach hinges on a four-pronged learning opportunity—four course offerings—that places high priority on exactitude with language and sees development of an attitude of precision with language as essential to intellectual growth. By inspiring students to master language in the key of B—Biology of Aging—we unleash a versatile method for developing cross-disciplinary discoverers prepared for a lifetime of seeing and reporting.

When I’m 64: Effects of an interdisciplinary gerontology course on first-year undergraduates’ perceptions of aging

ABSTRACTOne challenge for gerontology is getting more students interested in aging at an earlier point in their academic career. This study evaluated the impact of an interdisciplinary course on aging designed for first-year undergraduate students. The course aimed to expand students’ appreciation of the personal and professional relevance of aging issues, with the goal of expanding their aging-related curricular and career interests. Main outcome variables of the study included knowledge of older adults and aging, attitudes toward older adults, and anxiety about personal aging. Participants included an intervention group enrolled in the course and a control group not enrolled in the course. Compared to baseline, at the end of the semester students in the class had more knowledge about aging and more positive explicit attitudes toward older adults, but their implicit attitudes toward older adults and anxiety about aging did not change. Control students showed no changes. These findings suggest that objective knowledge of aging and explicit attitudes improve with curricular intervention, but implicit attitudes and anxiety might be more difficult to change. Gerontology education is a complex undertaking whose diverse goals must be clearly articulated in order to guide curricular interventions and incite curiosity among young undergraduate students.

Paradigms in the Gerontology Classroom: Connections and Challenges to Learning

The article explores paradigms for approaching course content to be studied in the classroom. These paradigms, or global views about what is of interest or importance and ways of knowing, relate to key questions in gerontology, such as what is the relevant domain/content to be studied, what is the central level of analysis or action, what are appropriate ways to gain knowledge, and how do we best address the challenges related to aging? For interdisciplinary gerontology programs, the discussion of paradigms raises the question of whether learning effectiveness and student satisfaction may suffer when the students are unaware of their own budding gerontological paradigms or when an instructor's paradigm remains unarticulated or differs from those of students. This article discusses selected paradigms inherent within gerontology education/training programs and their diverse foci, two emerging paradigms of gerontology, and potential steps to clarify these paradigms in the classroom.

Caracterização dos diagnósticos de enfermagem identificados em prontuários de idosos: um estudo retrospectivo

Trata-se de um estudo exploratório-descritivo e retrospectivo com os objetivos de identificar, a partir dos dados contidos nos prontuários, diagnósticos de enfermagem; e caracterizar esses diagnósticos através de um mapeamento utilizando a Taxonomia II da North American Nursing Diagnosis Association. A coleta de dados foi realizada em outubro e novembro de 2006, aplicando-se um roteiro, com oito perguntas fechadas, em todos os prontuários (196) existentes no Programa Interdisciplinar de Geriatria e Gerontologia da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói - RJ. Os dados foram agrupados e organizados para tratamento estatístico descritivo simples. Obteve-se como principais diagnósticos de enfermagem: risco de integridade da pele, memória prejudicada e dentição prejudicada. Concluiu-se que o mapeamento realizado mostrou-se em concordância com a taxonomia diagnóstica, auxiliou na construção de um instrumento padrão e validou a necessidade do uso dessa tecnologia como um sistema padrão de linguagem.

An Emerging Typology of Academic Interdisciplinary Gerontology Centers in the United States

Little is known about the organization, characteristics or services offered by academic interdisciplinary gerontology centers located in higher education institutions. This article presents a description and an emerging typology of academic interdisciplinary gerontology centers based on information collected from the Websites of 47 centers. The emerging typology comprised three dimensions: focus, functions and specialty areas. Significant relationships were found between the center's function and focus as well as function and number of specialties. The newly developed typology is useful for classifying and learning about academic interdisciplinary gerontology centers. Students who have an interest in gerontology might use the classification system to select a school that matches their academic goals. Educators and educational administrators might apply the typology's dimensions in program development. The typology might also serve as a useful framework for future research and policymakers could use the information from the typology and center's Websites to support proposed policies. Furthermore, older adult consumers, their families and professional caregivers can use the information to learn about services and resources.

Interdisciplinary Gerontology Education Online: A Developmental Process Model

Distance education online in gerontology in academic settings is designed to reflect content relevant to gerontology practices, academic standards, teaching strategies, and technology that embrace content delivery while enhancing learning. A balance with community services and needs for older adult populations, academic integrity, stakeholders, and resources, with an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary student-centered approach are important. Considering these factors and based on a needs assessment, this article describes a process model used to create an interdisciplinary gerontology education program for online delivery at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). The realities, pearls of wisdom, and lessons learned from creating and implementing the FGCU online interdisciplinary undergraduate gerontology education in the academic setting are also presented.

Gerontology education in transition: considering disciplinary and paradigmatic evolution.

The disciplinary status of gerontology has long been the subject of much debate, but recent changes in higher education suggest the early development of a more integrated, interdisciplinary approach to gerontological education and research. We assert that gerontology is currently a multidisciplinary field of inquiry, but at selected schools it is moving toward an interdisciplinary field and may ultimately evolve into a new discipline. The risks and benefits attendant with this disciplinary evolution are reviewed in light of the historical development of other disciplines. Factors that may accelerate the development of interdisciplinary gerontology education include paradigm development in gerontology and the success of gerontology PhD programs, especially the placement of their graduates.

A Resource for Research Methods Courses in Gerontology

The Gerontology Research Toolkit and the Aging Social Research Laboratory are being tested in the quantitative research methods course at San Fransisco State University's Master of Arts interdisciplinary gerontology program. Few students in the program are initially familar or comfortable with statistics, statistical programming, or computers. The Gerontology Research Toolkit provides a good introduction to these topics and provides an interesting data-set for students to work with because it is based on a national study, has a large number of respondents and variables, and contains longitudinal as well as cross-sectional data. The Sociometrics method of archiving variables by topic and type facilitates students' formulation of research questions and selection of appropriate variables.

Interdisciplinary Gerontology Education:

Negative attitudes toward older people are thought to impact social policies and service provision, cause adverse medical and mental health treatment of older persons, and diminish self-esteem and feelings of adequacy, usefulness, and security of older people. Research on gerontology education as a change agent of attitudes toward aging has yielded mixed results-predominantly due to the variety of dimensions of attitudes measured by diverse attitude instruments. The present research employed by the Aging Opinion Survey to explore the impact of an introductory interdisciplinary gerontology course on three dimensions of attitudes toward aging. Matched pretest and posttest responses of 115 subjects at a state university were obtained. Analyses of t-tests revealed that subjects experienced significant positive changes in attitudes toward older people in general (t = 3.06, p < .001) and in attitudes toward familiar elders (t = 3.06, p < .003). No significant attitude change occured in personal anxiety about ag...

An interdisciplinary gerontology elective for allied health students.

The planning, implementation, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary elective in gerontology for allied health students are presented. The contract grading mechanism used for evaluation encompassed learning activities in the classroom, clinic, and community areas. Students' comments and faculty recommendations are discussed.