In the study of gerontology, fieldwork with older adults is often used to enhance students' understanding of the aging process. While assignments based on interactions with older adults are a common practice in teaching students enrolled in gerontology studies, we know less about the impact of such activities on students from other disciplines.…

Diversity is what makes a person unique, with the intersection of diversity characteristics potentially a strength or a barrier to accessing healthcare, and thereby affecting health and well-being outcomes. Many older people with diverse needs are not accessing appropriate services to meet their needs, leading to suboptimal health and well-being.…

Developed countries differ greatly in their policy response to population ageing. In the United Kingdom, little attention is given to its positive features, and the potential of lifelong learning to enhance the wellbeing of older populations is largely disregarded. Universities have increasingly neglected them, while expanding provision for much…

This article describes a new type of team training that involves undergraduate students of medicine, students from the Aalto University (industrial engineering and management, architecture, information networks, collaborative and industrial design and bioinformation technology) and specialized home care nurses. During the course, the students…

Matters of development and generation may create barriers in teaching millennial undergraduates psychological and social gerontology. We introduce strategy to mitigate these barriers by teaching psychological and social gerontology as undergraduate honors courses, augmented with the use of social networking tools. We detail honors programming,…

One key to successful gerontological education lies in teaching students to integrate information from diverse academic disciplines into practical contexts. This article describes a project-based course within which students learn to integrate theories by working with older adult partners to make reminiscence movies based on an important event or…

This conceptual paper is based on interdisciplinary work the authors have participated in as part of the renewed push for civic engagement, the various forms it takes, and the multiple constituencies involved in its promotion. We focus on what theoretical and empirical content could be incorporated into courses on aging so that students can be…

Older adults have always been important parts of children's lives, playing a variety of roles including grandparent, caregiver, friend, and neighbour. Grandparents also play a variety of roles in families. Often a child's first encounter with serious illness or death involves a grandparent or other older adult. Grandparents are also increasingly…

Although the title of the course, Combating Loneliness among Older People in Contemporary Society, states a clear goal, our service-learning class was shaped by five guiding parameters. By avoiding certain things, we allowed the course to self-organize and evolve into a learning experience beyond the one originally envisioned. This paper…

Outlines a recent educational initiative in social gerontology at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education: a two-year course on aging and the community. Discussed its educational and national context, the development of the course and its present content. Analyzes the student population to establish typical profiles of those…

Technological and scientific developments, progress in the discipline of gerontology, and an ageing population mean that we now have to contend with previously unknown ethical problems. Therefore, the teaching of ethics is an essential element of a comprehensive education in gerontology. This article discusses the unique aspects of gerontology…

An introductory course in gerontology should be tied to the liberal arts core of higher education and not merely provide assembly lines of facts. Undergraduates should be helped to appreciate difficulties in designing and interpreting gerontological studies and to realize that they are not yet ready to undertake independent empirical…

This article reprises four presentations on "Gerontology Education in Kenya," a seminar at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education. It describes the process by which the Gerontology Institute of Georgia State University established a 3-year gerontology education and research partnership with Kenyatta…

Describes classroom learning activities for a college level psychology course on aging and explains how these and other activities can be used to interest students in a career in services for the aged. (Author/DB)

Rehabilitation counselors are assisting consumers with end-of-life issues. Counselors who have the capacity to assist with end-of-life issues in a culturally sensitive manner possess pre-established self-care networks, an understanding of death from multiple perspectives, knowledge of communication interventions, and appropriate outcome…