At the study site, an elder care practicum was adopted after nursing students demonstrated a lack of interest in the well-being of elderly patients. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a change in college nursing students' attitudes toward nursing home residents as a result of increased intergenerational exposure following an…

An intergenerational initiative was developed and implemented to enhance gerontology in the first course of the practice sequence. Seventeen students met with older adults (ages 82-98) in the classroom and at an assisted living facility. The evaluation of this older adult infusion project was conducted through two questionnaires and by the review…

The health benefits of musical engagement extend across the lifespan, with research documenting developmental and quality of life outcomes in senior adulthood. Whilst the psychological functions of music include three broad domains: cognitive, emotional and social, the social factors of music consumption have been, for the most part, ignored. This…

As a pilot site selected to participate in Illinois' Shifting Gears (SG) initiative in 2007, Oakton Community College (OCC) partnered with Presbyterian Homes to develop a bridge course to prepare a cadre of their employed Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) to enter college-credit level prerequisite courses to a Practical Nursing program. Oakton…

This study investigates the value of community experience for mediating linguistic practice and cultural learning. Learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL), both immigrants and international students, frequently report difficulties in practicing English outside the classroom (Wright, 2006). Grounded in poststructuralist social identity…

This study documents a reflective journey of a community music programme initiated by a university music education faculty member and an occupational therapist within the setting of a nursing home and day-care centre in Singapore. Weekly music interaction sessions in conjunction with reminiscence therapy were conducted over a period of five…

This article presents findings from an Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) study on the roles of education in the trajectories of health care professionals who migrated to England and became carers. The study looks at the downward mobility and deskilling of these women, and their struggles to reverse their bungled career paths. The author maps…

This article describes a graduate course in clinical geropsychology that combines classroom, practicum, and field-visit components. The course provides clinical and applied developmental students with an overview of the major research and clinical topics of the field, as well as firsthand exposure to the setting of the nursing home, its residents,…

Virginia Commonwealth University developed an enhanced medical student geriattic curriculum that includes required home visits and nursing home visits for second year students (180 per year), an annual Forum on Aging for all first and second year students, and small group exercises. We added 30 hours of basic science material to pre-clinical…

To meet the special needs of and provide quality health care to nursing home residents, the health care workforce must be knowledgeable about the aging process. Health professionals are minimally prepared in their academic programs to care for older adults, and few programs have required rotations in geriatrics. Teaching nursing homes (TNHs) have…

The purpose of this article is to describe an innovative teaching method in which American undergraduate students were asked to write haiku-a Japanese poetry form-about the lives of nursing home residents. Drawing on both their own experiences and May Sarton's novel "As We Are Now", class members created poems about institutionalization that…

Nursing homes as clinical sites for student learning have the potential to produce negative attitudes toward aging. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to determine the impact of the Eden Alternative on the attitudes of students toward elders residing in nursing homes. Prior to beginning implementation of the Eden Alternative, 61…

The older adult population in America will significantly increase in the future. Older adults have important needs for recreation and leisure services (Beland, 2002). The author taught a class titled "Leisure Services for Older Adults" for over 24 years at the University of Florida. He has taught gerontology and recreation by teaching…

For all the baby boomers who've embraced and adopted healthier lifestyles, including proper diet and exercise, there may be an even more compelling reason. If you get sick or become hospitalized, you may not have the critically needed services of a well-trained nurse. It's been widely reported that there is a nursing shortage in the United States,…

Cognitive care training, also known as dementia training, has changed significantly, and negatively, since 1993 in New York State nursing homes. The research reported in this paper examines the employment requirements for cognitive care training and the actual post-employment cognitive care training. The research involved a replication of the…