Faculty perceptions of engaging older adults in higher education: The need for intergenerational pedagogy.

Institutions of higher education need to become more age friendly. Creating an on-campus lifelong learning program can offer older adults opportunities to audit classes and engage in multigenerational classrooms, but can also promote intergenerational learning when instructors consciously use pedagogy that fosters engagement between learners from various generations. Promoting intergenerational learning to facilitate reciprocal sharing of expertise between generations is also the fourth principle of the Age Friendly University framework. This qualitative interview study examines the perspectives of 27 faculty members who have opened their face to face classrooms to older adult auditors to 1) Explore perceived benefits and challenges associated with having older adults in the college classroom and to 2) Determine what levels of intergenerational learning may be taking place. Compared to lecture-based courses, faculty whose pedagogy promotes discussion, sharing, and small group work reported detailed examples of older adult learners and traditionally-aged college students engaging in course-related discussion. The unique, historical and diverse perspectives of older adults improved the quality of education for students, and fostered in-depth learning. Challenges related to older adult auditors included poor/limited attendance, sharing of strong opinions/dominating class discussion, sensory/mobility and technology accessibility. Recommendations include training to promote intergenerational engagement in college classrooms.

Creating intergenerational learning opportunities in multigenerational college classrooms: Faculty perceptions and experiences.

This study explored the role of faculty in fostering intergenerational learning. Specifically, it 1) describes how faculty perceive the engagement between older auditors and traditional students within a multigenerational classroom, 2) looks at the role faculty play in fostering engagement between the generations, 3) determines whether or not intergenerational learning is taking place, and 4) identifies areas of need in order to facilitate intergenerational learning. Using an online survey we collected data from 14 of the 15 faculty who participated in an older adult auditing program at a state college. Data analysis revealed that faculty members expected benefits from including older adults in their classroom, and then reported positive experiences, yet they themselves did not change their teaching style to facilitate intergenerational learning. Faculty appear to have assumed that by having a multigenerational class, intergenerational learning would naturally take place. The implication for institutes of higher education is that they need to help prepare faculty to understand the unique role that they play in fostering intergenerational learning in a multigenerational class.

Preliminary Outcomes From a Community-Based Elder Abuse Risk and Evaluation Tool.

This research addresses the need to develop an assessment tool for case workers working in the aging services field outside of APS. As such, the research discusses the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of the Elder Abuse Risk Assessment and Evaluation© tool (EARAE). This instrument was developed and pilot tested by the Elder Abuse Prevention Program (EAPP), a program within Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc. in Rochester, New York. A total of 189 suspected elder mistreatment cases were investigated using the EARAE instrument to track elements at the start and close of each case. Results indicate the tool represents an effective way to capture abuse indicators, track contributing risk factors, measure multiple case outcomes, and track types of interventions utilized. Opportunities and limitations of the tool are also discussed.

Constructions of pregnant and postnatal embodiment across three generations: mothers', daughters' and others' experiences of the transition to motherhood.

The academic study of the 'body' has come to occupy the foreground over the past two decades and the differential influences of physical and social worlds particularly upon body management practices have become fundamental to the 21st-century 'project' of the body. In this article we explore three generations of women's accounts of living in/with a pregnant and postnatal body which is now both visible and 'public' as women 'leave' the home for work. However this now takes place in the context of public surveillance (and self-surveillance) particularly about food/eating, 'health' and 'beauty'.