Paper
Title: “Infusing Gerontology in a Baccalaureate Health Services Administration Program.”
Lead Author: Carol L.Jenkins
Abstract: The projected growth in the older population, especially among those people aged 85 and over, indicates there will be a growing demand for health and long-term care services. This implies a growing need for health care services administrators who are familiar with gerontological concepts, such as the life course framework and the normal processes of biological and psychological aging, as well as the acute and chronic needs of older people and the policies and programs that have been developed to meet those needs. This paper describes how the health services administration program at Auburn University adapted to this challenge by substantially revising an existing course on long-term care administration and adding a course on aging services and policies. Case studies were introduced to help students understand potential problems in long-term care administration, and to identify solutions. Student groups explored career paths in various health care and long-term care settings through on-site visits and interviews. Students learned how to apply knowledge they gained in reading and classes through interaction with older adults in an array of organizations offering aging services. Students completing the program have found positions in settings such as Alabama's Department of Senior Services, regional area agencies on aging, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes.
Resource Exchange
Title: “Teaching Gerontology and History through DVD: Engaging Older Adults in Historical Documentary.”
Lead Author: Christopher R.Conybeare
Abstract: Working-class history is rarely documented or presented in traditional educational settings. Rice & Roses is a video archive and television series for general audience and classroom use that engages older adults in the retelling of significant and everyday events in the history of working class Hawaii. Established in 1972, Rice and Roses raised public and private funds to conduct video oral histories with men and women whose remembrances spanned the entire 20th century. Since 1972, more than 200 older adults have been interviewed on video tape, and more than 150 hours of television programming have been produced. Programs featured significant labor events, such as the 1918 sugar strike and the 1949 dock strike. An equal number focus on the everyday culture of the Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Caucasian laborers that built present-day Hawaii. Numerous benefits have been realized. One older participant who studied historical clothing of Japanese laborers gained international recognition and became a film industry consultant. Other seniors have used the videos to inform their children and grandchildren about their past. University professors use the videos to teach Hawaii history, and they tap the archive for historical research. Most significantly, these programs are shown regularly on public television, contributing to the general public’s knowledge of Hawaii’s history and supporting a view of older people as “movers and shakers” of our world. While many communities support oral history, the use of these data in television programming greatly increases their usability, which can enhance positive images of older adults.
Symposium
Title: “Jobs to Careers: Work-Based Learning for Frontline Workers in Long-Term Care.”
Lead Author: Jennifer Craft Morgan
Abstract: In the 1st presentation “Keeping in Step with WIN A STEP UP: Retaining Nurse Aide Participants in a Workplace Based Learning and Career Enhancement Program.” Thomas. R. Konrad and co-authors of UNC-CH will profile a program aimed at increasing skill levels and reducing turnover being implemented. throughout North Carolina. An extensive comparison of nurse aides who drop out of and those who complete this program concludes that successful completion by incumbent careworkers can be increased by carefully selecting highly interested mid-career NAs, sustaining their intrinsic motivation, and helping them deal with competing priorities. More career-oriented workers who seek upward mobility within their geriatric care settings might be retained if workplace-based learning opportunities could be linked to college credit.
In the 2nd presentation: “Jobs to Careers: Partnerships, Pathways, and Progress for Direct Care Workers in Long Term Care,” Heather Kane and co-authors examine proposals to the Jobs to Careers Initiative which invited employers to partner with educational organizations to develop clear career paths for frontline health workers’ advancement. Barriers to upward mobility for these workers in long term care settings are identified and include: lack of flexibility in the workplace; rigidity in educational requirements for achieving credentials; and inadequate time for balancing work, education, and family life. Closer collaboration between employers and educational partners is proposed to encourage learning in the workplace and facilitate career development.
In the 3rd presentation “Work-Based Learning: A Fresh Approach to Developing the Direct Care Workforce.” Randall Wilson and co-authors of Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA describe a new approach to the education and skill development of frontline healthcare workers– structured work-based learning– and examine its application in a national demonstration project, “Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-based Learning for Quality Care,” a four-year, $15.8 million initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson and Hitachi Foundations, and the U.S. Department of Labor. This presentation will describe the conceptual logic of Jobs to Careers: improving the quality of care through work-based learning, and supporting such learning through employer/educator partnerships, and systematic changes in the workplace and in educational institutions. It will illustrate the implementation of the program using a case study of a grantee partnership in Oregon.
Workshop
Title: “Implementing Recovery in a Geriatric Psychiatric Hospital.”
Lead Author: Maxcine C. Maxfield
Abstract: Recovery is a central theme of a nationwide transformation of Mental Health services. However, many believe that self-determination, empowerment, recovery, resilience, health, and the highest possible level of consumer participation in work, relationships, and all aspects of community life mainly apply to younger populations. Piedmont Geriatric Hospital applied the basic recovery principles to the special population served by the hospital, those 65 and older with a primary diagnosis of mental illness.
This required a transformation from interventions aimed at symptom relief or behavior reduction to promoting wellness and a committed belief that even individuals who are severely cognitively or psychiatrically impaired can participate in their own future-building on some level. It also required that all disciplines, clinical and non-clinical are committed to recovery.
As a first step, we had a firm commitment from the hospital's leadership to support and infuse recovery in this facility. Secondly, we educated ALL staff on recovery principles and the hospital's commitment to these principles. Staff needed to understand what their specific role would be in this transformation, regardless of their level of involvement with patient care. They also needed to let go of old beliefs about older persons with mental illness and needed to see the benefits of recovery for the patients and themselves.
Even in this early stage do we have anecdotal evidence that staff is excited about the transformation and is willing to apply recovery principles and practices in their daily work. We credit much of this to our training approach which created excitement and commitment within all disciplines, from medical to maintenance staff. Our training may be a model for clinical and non-clinical settings and could provide a basis for curriculum development in academic settings. The presenters will discuss the programmatic process involved and present segments of the training that was offered to hospital staff to demonstrate content and teaching strategies.
Poster
Title: “Strands of Convergence: Fifteen Years in the Life of a Retirement Community.”
Lead Author: Susan A. Eisenhandler
Abstract: For a variety of reasons, including research on mortality, social gerontologists are keenly aware of the importance of anniversaries. The small retirement community of Kahehtiyo celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2007. This poster depicts the continuity and change that has occurred in the community as older residents have aged and as insights from gerontological knowledge and from local leadership have found their way into practices and plans made by residents and by the community. The work of the local housing authority has been crucial in founding and guiding development of the complex. Likewise the realpolitik of policy and planning has threaded strands of convergence into the lives of residents and into the community. Photographs and documents from points along the fifteen year life course of the complex attest to the many layers of continuity and change that meet in a significant anniversary and influence the future. Moreover, aspects of positive aging are illustrated in materials presented here from interviews and participant observation completed from 2005-2007. Though anniversary celebrations are usually commemorated on one day, that day distills many experiences relevant to understanding the phrase 'aging well."
