The joys of caring for older adults: training practitioners to empower older adults

Many older adults lack knowledge concerning the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, atypical disease symptoms, the adverse effects of multiple medication use, and the hazards of frequent hospitalizations. Medically trained healthcare providers and community health practitioners can provide older adults with this information through health education classes. However, these healthcare professionals must continually update their knowledge as the science of gerontology and geriatrics is always expanding. The advanced certificate in gerontology administration program at LIU-Brooklyn hosted a 3-h train-the-trainer seminar, which was attended by 62 healthcare professionals to raise awareness concerning the realities of aging and to describe a range of behaviors that support health. For approximately 90 min, the keynote speaker presented issues and solutions that addressed the before-mentioned areas of knowledge deficit, followed by a question and answer period. Participants were asked to use an anonymous survey evaluation form featuring both quantitative and qualitative questions to rate the seminar. Close-ended questions were developed on a five-point scale ranging from 5 = strongly agree to 1 = strongly disagree. These items were analyzed to compute frequency and percent. The participants rated the seminar favorably with 98% stating that they learned the benefits of exercise for older adults; 97% learned how to avoid the hazards of hospitalization. Evaluations of the seminar suggest that it is feasible to develop educational programs targeting healthcare professionals and community health practitioners.