This project’s goal was to obtain recommendations for tailoring the Geriatric Pocket Doc (GPD), a guide book of geriatric information for non-physicians, for use by law enforcement officers who investigate elder abuse. Using a written survey and facilitated discussion group, investigators and detectives in an advanced Elder Abuse Investigations course were asked how they would improve the GPD’s content, organization, and presentation. In the literature, experts have expressed the need for officers to have training and easy-to-carry information on common medical issues of older adults. Project participants(N=21) indicated the GPD was a useful tool that they would carry on the job. Participants suggested adding photos of bruises and pressure sores and adding tabs or color-coding. Participants recommended supplementing the existing book with additional formats, such as laminated foldouts, a CD-ROM, and a website which would allow frequent updates.
William Goeller, MS
The purpose of this study was to determine if there were relationships between optimism, hope and lifelong learning. The significant findings in this study were the overall positive attributional style mean scores for lifelong learners on the Older Adult Attributional Questionnaire being significantly higher, and the higher mean scores obtained by lifelong learners on the total hope score, the agency subscale, and the pathways subscale of the Hope Scale. These significant differences suggest that lifelong learners are more optimistic and hopeful than non-lifelong learners. These higher levels of optimism and hope have been shown to have positive effect on the physical, psychological, and social well-being of older adults in a number of cited studies. These findings strongly suggest that for older adults to have higher levels of optimism and hope in the future, more learning opportunities need to become available to them that are designed specifically to address the issues of optimism and hope in order to enable them to enjoy the benefits of both of those constructs.
Ellen Po Wong, MS
The purpose of this Directed Project was to evaluate awareness about gerontology and the need for professionals with aging expertise in three silver industries (financial services, travel, and housing). By understanding the role of gerontologists in these industries, graduate programs in gerontology can enhance their curriculums to address the needs of business/industry and assist students with identifying career options. The Investigator conducted five face-to-face interviews with travel and housing professionals and four telephone interviews with banking professionals. The participants identified the following attributes as being important: knowledge of marketing and aging needs, the ability to provide concrete services (education/training, advocacy), interpersonal and leadership skills, passion, and sales experience. Entrepreneurial and consulting opportunities exist for gerontologists. To work in the silver industries, gerontologists should demonstrate their expertise, create niches, understand the business environment, and have marketing and sales experience, areas gerontology programs can address to remain responsive to changing industry needs.
