SOA 311/ 469.08

Seminar: Issues In Gerontology

Spring 1999

 

Dr. Jacquelyn Frank

Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Office: Schroeder Hall 340-I

Phone #: 438-5949

 

Course Description

This course will provide an advanced treatment of topics in gerontology, including an overview of current gerontological issues plus an in-depth treatment of selected subjects in gerontology, e.g. economics of aging, the future of aging, the elderly and the community. The underlying theme for this semester will be how older adults define quality of life as they age. This question will serve as a lens to examine issues important to seniors. Some of the topics covered will include healthcare, social roles, and community life.

In addition, this semester we will be integrating an intergenerational service-learning component in to the course. Intergenerational service-learning provides students with community service opportunities by working directly with the aging community and the organizations which serve them. This is neither an internship nor volunteer work. This intergenerational service-learning component is a tremendous asset to classroom knowledge because it allows students to gain first-hand experience with questions that concern the elderly and contribute to their quality of life.

Course Objectives:

1. Through course readings and first-hand experience students will learn about topics critical to seniors in our society.

2. Students will gain an awareness and knowledge of what factors contribute to seniors’ quality of life in a local as well as national context.

3. Graduate and undergraduate students will learn from each other by working together on intergenerational service-learning projects.

4. Students will acquire practical, real-life experience working with the elderly through their intergenerational service-learning projects.

5. Students will help meet the needs of the elderly in the Bloomington-Normal community through their service-learning experiences.

6. Students will have the opportunity to share the results from their intergenerational service-learning projects with students in the Social Gerontology (SOA 211) classes, and the other faculty involved in the interdisciplinary Gerontology Minor Program.

 

 

 

Required Texts

Abeles, Ronald, Helen Gift, and Marcia Ory, editors. 1994.

Aging and Quality of Life. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Cox, Harold, editor. 1998.

Aging 1998/1999: Annual Editions. Dushkin/McGraw Hill Publishing.

Various articles to be handed out in class

Recommended Texts

(if you have not had a social gerontology course before, or are interested in diverse perspectives on aging, these books are recommended.)

Moody, Harry R. 1998.

Aging: Concepts and Controversies. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.

Atchley, Robert. 1997.

Social Forces and Aging: An Introduction to Social Gerontology. Eighth edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Hooyman, Nancy and Kiyak H. Ausuman. 1996.

Social Gerontology. Fourth Edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Gubrium, Jaber and Kathy Charmaz, editors. 1992.

Aging, Self, and Community. Greewich: JAI Press, Inc.

Brown, Arnold. S. 1996.

The Social Process of Aging and Old Age. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Prentice Hall

Brabazon, Kevin, and Robert Disch, editors. 1997.

Intergenerational Approaches in Aging: Implications for Educational Policy and Practice. NY: Haworth Press.

Scharlach, Andrew and Lenard Kaye, editors. 1997.

Controversial Issues in Aging. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

 

Course Requirements and Expectations

This course is structured in a seminar format. Therefore, students are expected to actively participate in a class discussions and activities. It is essential that each student in this course contribute his/her perspective to class discussions and group projects. A significant portion of your grade will be based on your energetic contribution to the class.

As part of the requirements for this course, students will keep a project journal in which they will reflect on their personal perceptions, ideas, and reactions to their intergenerational service-learning project. The professor will collect the journals three times during the semester so that she may obtain feedback from the students regarding their intergeneration service-learning experiences.

There will be two written assignments for this course. All written assignments must be typed, double-spaced, proof-read, and spell-checked before being turned in to the instructor. A complete description the paper policy for this course will be distributed in class. The first paper for the class will be written on an issue of your choosing related to quality of life for the elderly. The second paper will be based on your intergenerational service-learning experience. This paper will contain 3 components: 1) an objective analysis of the organization served, the work completed, 2) an analysis and interpretation of the service-learning experience, your personal contribution to the elderly people you worked with, and the dynamic of your project group, 3) what you learned about quality of life for the elderly.

During the month of April the class will also help design surveys to be distributed to the agencies served through intergenerational service-learning as well as the seniors who participated in the programs. These surveys will help us measure the projects’ impact on the community as well as seniors’ quality of life.

The service-learning component of this course is an integral part of the learning experience and is a requirement for this course. Your contact hours with the seniors should equal approximately 10 hours over the course of the semester.

Students will also be required to give one oral presentation on their project experiences. The presentation will be made to your classmates in this seminar. There will be an extra credit option of a second presentation to be made to the students in the Social Gerontology course (SOA 211). In addition, graduate students in the class will be required to present their project experiences to a small faculty group, to be organized by the professor during the spring semester.

Methods of Evaluation

Project journal (3 x 25 pts each)    75 points

Issue paper  50 points

Project group presentation to class  75 points

Survey/questionnaire design  50 points

Participation (50 pts for class, 50 points for SL) 100 points

*Presentation to faculty group  50 points

Letters to seniors       25 points

Final project paper    100 points

Extra Credit: Presentation to 211 class 10 points

 

* Graduate students are required to give a presentation to a faculty group

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Tentative Schedule

Jan. 12     Course introduction, discussion of service-learning projects

 

Jan. 19     Intergenerational Service-Learning and aging, quality of life & physical health 

Assignment: Abeles intro and chapter 1 AE# 1,3,12,13,5,2

 

Jan. 26     Intergenerational Service-Learning training: Dr. Jane Angelis, Illinois Intergenerational Initiative

Assignment: Abeles chapter 6,7,8 AE# 15,18,10

 

Feb. 2     Social aspects of quality of life

Assignment: Abeles chapter 3,4,5 AE# 16,7

 

Feb. 9 " "

Assignment: Abeles chapter 9,12 AE# 29,30,31

JOURNALS DUE

 

Feb. 16     Various roles for seniors in the community and society

Assignments: Abeles chapter 16 AE# 14,17

 

Feb. 23     Guest lecturer from the Area Agency on Aging

Assignment: Abeles chapter 13,14 AE# 19,11

ISSUE PAPER DUE

 

Mar. 2 NO CLASS

 

Mar. 16     Residential environments for the elderly

Assignment: Abeles chapter 10,11 AE# 32,21,22,35,36

 

Mar. 23     Social services for the elderly

Assignment: Abeles chapter 15 AE# 38,39,41

JOURNALS DUE

 

Mar. 30     Seniors from RSVP will speak in class

Assignment: AE# 23,24,25

 

Apr. 6     Policies affecting quality of life for seniors, survey design

Assignment: Abeles chapter 17,18 AE# 37,40,8,26

 

Apr. 13     Quality of life for cognitively impaired seniors

Assignment: Abeles chapter 19 AE# 34,33

 

Apr. 20     Guest lecturer from local AARP

Assignment: AE# 9,4,20

JOURNALS DUE

 

Apr. 27     Groups present their project findings and experiences

Assignment: prepare for oral presentation

 

*AE= Annual Editions in Aging book

**Final Projects due: FRIDAY APRIL 30th BY 5:00 pm