This paper describes an Elder Specialist Program developed by one school of medicine to sensitize medical students to geriatric psychosocial issues. Elder Specialists participate in panel discussions as part of each geriatric session. As an alternative to traditional senior mentoring programs, the Elder Specialist Program provides all students a…

The University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) General Education "Clusters" are innovations in student-centered undergraduate education focused on complex phenomena that require an interdisciplinary perspective. UCLA gerontology and geriatric faculty recognized the opportunity to introduce freshmen to the field of aging through this new…

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…

Describes a health education program at a life care community, based on Knowles' theory of androgyny. The program significantly affected participants' health behavior which reduced the effects of aging. Planning guidelines, audiovisual considerations, format, and cost are discussed. (JAC)

Over the last 20 years, older people have served as teachers for students as part of the formal curriculum in geriatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In recent years, we have supported a more in-depth, longitudinal experience that connects medical students with elders in the community. The program was initiated as a special…

Frail elders living alone or in long-term care settings are particularly vulnerable to bioterrorism and other emergencies due to their complex physical, social and psychological needs. This paper provides an overview of the recent literature on bioterrorism and emergency preparedness in aging (BTEPA); discusses federal initiatives by the health…

Discussed in this report is a geriatric clinical training model for social workers and students dealing with Alzheimer patients and family caregivers. The project was conceived to develop student interest and competence to work in this specialized area. One goal was to incorporate relevant components in the social work curriculum in both classroom…

OBJECTIVE: There is an urgent need for research training in psychiatry at early career stages, especially in geriatric psychiatry. The authors describe their first-year experience with the Summer Training in Aging Research Topics--in Mental Health (START-MH), a new federally funded national-level training program intended to offer intensive…

It is expected that the demand for gerontological social workers will increase as the elderly population continues to grow. However, many practitioners enter the aging field with little or no formal training. Successful gerontological social work practice requires workers to be knowledgeable and technically competent. Fieldwork plays a critical…

Since aging has become a field of increasing interest, many requests for information on the educational aspects of the subject have been received in the Office of Education. Because of the growing number of these requests, and because so few items bearing on education are included in the reference lists in the general field of aging, this…