COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOR DIVERSE ELDERS: What We’ve Learned.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOR DIVERSE ELDERS:

What We’ve Learned

COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOR DIVERSE ELDERS:

What We’ve Learned

• Luis F. Riquelme, M.S.,CCC-SLPDept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders

• Rebecca States, Ph.D.Dept. of Physical Therapy

• William B. Susman, Ph.D., P.T.Dept. of Physical Therapy Brooklyn Campus

Workshop Outline

• Overview of the HRSA Grant• Outreach to Community Organizations• Development of the Community Education

Modules: Outline, Evaluation, Implementation• Student Involvement• Sample Activities for Elders in Modules• Professional and Personal Benefits to You• Questions and Answers

Developing a Community Education Program

• Grant funding can provide support, open new opportunities.

• Developing the individual workshops

• Community outreach

• Implementing the workshops

HRSA Grant Overview:Interdisciplinary, Community-

Based, Health Education

An Allied Health Project Grant

Health Resources & Services Administration

U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services

HRSA Grant Overview:Fun Facts

• Three year grant: 07/01/2001 – 06/30/2004• From: Health Resources & Services

Administration• Total Budget: $292,438• Project Director: Rebecca A. States• Project Co-Director: William M. Susman• Awarded to: Long Island University/BC

HRSA Grant Overview:Three Objectives

• Community Education Modules:Presented at local Senior Centers, Presented in English and in Spanish.

• Multimedia Case Study Modules:New, web-based, case studies of elders for use in health care curricula at LIU and elsewhere.

• Dissemination of Grant Products:- Website for other Health Education Programs- Website for Elderly Health Information Consumers- Continuing Studies Course for Health Professionals

HRSA Grant Overview: 3 Health Care Topics

• Each objective cycles through 3 health care topics important to Healthy People 2010.

Stress Reduction

Physical Activity

Dementia & Depression

HRSA Grant Overview:Timeline

• Activities on all three objectives happen concurrently.

• All grant members focus on one health care topic at a time. Focus shifts over the three year-period.

Fall 2002 - Dementia & Depression

Spring 2003 - Stress Reduction

Fall 2003 - Physical Activity

HRSA Grant Overview: Participation from …

• Social Work• Respiratory Care• Physical Therapy• Occupational Therapy• Nursing• Communication

Sciences & Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology)

HRSA Grant Overview: Project-Wide Preparations

• Established Interdisciplinary Advisory Board from LIU-BC faculty.

• Held informational meeting on the health care needs of Latino elders in Brooklyn.

• Developed overall structure for workshops.

• Conducted outreach to community organizations.

Outreach to Community Organizations

Outreach:Go Through The Steps

• Start early

• Know what you want from your partner organization & what you will deliver

• Provide written outline for review

• Suggest calendar/schedule; be flexible

• Meet with potential partners in person

• Follow-up

• Get commitments in writing

Outreach: Umbrella Organizations

• New York City Department for the Aging, Bureau of Community Services

• RAICES – Spanish Speaking Elderly Council

• Brooklyn Interagency Council on the Aging

• Brooklyn Geriatrics Committee

Participating Senior Centers

• Eileen Dugan Senior Citizens Center (Pilot)

• Ft. Greene Senior Center

• Times Plaza Senior Center

• Wyckoff Gardens Senior Center

• Hope Gardens Senior Citizens Center

The Community

Education Workshops

Workshops Outline• 20-min. presentation

by faculty member• Question & Answer

period• Small-group activity led

by students• Student interviews with

individual clients to evaluate session

• Total time:

Approx. 1 hour

Developing the Modules:Content • Researched the content

and possible small-group activities.

• Developed learning objectives for each session.

• Created presentations & small-group activities for each session.

Interdisciplinary focus within a multicultural context offered an exploration of learning in considering how to meet the objectives of each module.

Developing the Modules:Interdisciplinary Logistics

• Collaboration: weekly meetings

• Consultation

• Reference materials

• Module design/content

• Coordination: A/V, schedules, student participation, translations

Developing the Modules:Delivery

• Guidelines for student involvement that work across disciplines

• Evaluation Questionnaires that work for all health care topics: for clients, for community center administrators

Evaluating the Workshops:Questions for Clients

Questionnaires completed by students with each client:

• Did you learn anything new about…(topic)?

• Will you use any of the information covered today?

• In the next week, will you discuss the issues raised with friends or family?

• What did you like best? Least?

Implementing the Workshops

Implementing the Workshops:Administrative Tasks

• Arrange/confirm logistics with Senior Center (schedule, refreshments, space)

• Arrange for Workshops to be videotaped

• Gather educational hand-outs• Recruit and train students to participate• Professionally translate presentation

materials into Spanish

Implementing the Workshops: Student Involvement

• Each academic program involved creates their own means of incorporating this experience into their curricula.

• Pre and Post module questionnaires administered to students are used to evaluate changes in attitudes and knowledge of older adults

• Students are introduced as part of the Team conducting the Workshop

The Student’s Role• Welcome clients,

answer questions• Help with A/V Consent

Form, if needed• Run post-presentation

small-group activities with clients

• Administer post-workshop Evaluation Questionnaire to elderly clients

• Provide feedback to Faculty

Implementing the Workshops:

Small-Group Activities - Example

• Use a set of cards with photos of older adults doing familiar activities as prompts to get clients to discuss:– Activities they currently do to stay

healthy,

– New activities they might try out to improve their health, and

– Ways to make cumbersome activities more attractive and productive.

Some Client Comments…(after Dementia & Depression and Stress Reduction Workshops)

• “I liked it a lot. I learned a lot about health.”• “I liked everything. It was ‘therapy’ for me.”• “You gave us courage to talk about what we

have.”• “I appreciated the open environment created

by the speaker.”• “I learned that anyone can have this

problem.”

Professional and Personal Benefits To You …

• Learn to communicate about wellness issues with older adults from diverse backgrounds

• Learn how to better organize and run Community Education Programs

• Get to know older urban adults as they engage in large and small-group settings

• Learn about the services and environment provided by Senior Centers

• Others…

Have fun with it!

Questions and Answers

Riquelme, States, Susman, 2003COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOR DIVERSE ELDERS: What We’ve Learned