The passage of time is fundamentally experienced through people's interaction with their social worlds. Life-course scholars acknowledge the multiple aspects of time-based experience but have given little attention to age identity in a dynamic context. Drawing from a stress-process model, we expected that turbulence within people's family…

Outlines educational strategies that can help the nursing staff reduce the frustrations and stress often related to caring for the elderly. Shows how to help staff recognize their own feelings about the elderly, become aware of misconceptions, and develop positive attitudes. (JOW)

The history and current status of graduate programs in gerontology in the United States are reviewed. Masters degree programs began in 1967, and currently exist at 57 universities in the United States. Challenges for these programs include maintaining enrollment and identifying employment for program graduates, given competition from graduates…

This paper describes three innovative European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology. The first is the European Masters Program in Gerontology (EuMaG), developed as an interdisciplinary joint program, supported and delivered by 22 European universities. Second, the Nordplus initiative to increase mobility of students and staff in…

As the population of older adults increases and their potential for abuse and neglect increases, it is important a well-trained and competent workforce exists. Research has shown inadequate training of Adult Protective Services (APS) program staff is a major concern for adult protection programs, and one of the most important resources needed is…

There is a national shortage of social workers who have the knowledge and skill competencies needed for practice with our rapidly growing older adult population. In the last decade, research has identified many reasons for the lack of interest in gerontological social work and steps that could be pursued within social work education to remedy the…

Discusses problems such as hearing or vision impairment for which teachers of adult students may have to compensate. Stresses that such problems do not diminish the learning capacity of older students. (EKN)

The "new gerontology," built on the concept of successful aging, sets forth the preconditions for and the end product of the process of aging successfully. Focused on health and active participation in life, it vests largely within individuals the power to achieve this normatively desirable state. While acknowledging the contributions of the…

Discusses a study to evaluate students' basic physical, mental, and social knowledge about the elderly. (JOW)

Describes the Course Expectations Survey, used to discern the student's interests and expectations in a course on adult development and aging. Student attributes, the instructor's orientation and area of specialization, and college and departmental characteristics influenced student expectations. (CS)

Students attending a lecture usually have a wide range of prior knowledge about the topic in question. Rather than seeing this as a problem, lecturers can take advantage of such differences. This article shows how students' misconceptions about old age were used to inform a lecture on the topic. Prior knowledge can thus be used to aid teaching and…

This article presents findings from experiences of 67 projects involved in GeroRich, an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation designed to infuse, enrich and sustain aging content in BSW and MSW curricula. Thematic qualitative analysis was used to uncover themes in answers to open-ended questions contained in End-of-Year 2 project…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging on the storage of visual and spatial working memory according to Logie's model of working memory (1995). In a first experiment young, elderly, and very old subjects carried out two tasks usually used to measure visual span (Visual Patterns Test) and spatial span (Corsi Block Tapping test).…

Secondary students analyze a map showing global aging trends. Selected materials on the aged and aging population with geographic content are listed. (RM)

This article presents findings from a questionnaire dealing with what young people think about the elderly and aging and how to bridge the generation gap. The role of the young in helping old people to become integrated in society is to encourage contacts in all fields. (UNESCO, Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris) (SSH)