University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s BEL project introduced BSW students from a Human Behavior & the Social Environment III class (adults in the life course) and Introduction to Social Work classes to a Continuing Care Retirement Community. Students were then paired with an older adult, who was often cognitively challenged, to visit over several weeks and with whom to develop a life review and a short one to two page written life summary with a theme. Students often decorated the borders with a symbol related to the life theme and the life summary was written in large print with simple sentence construction. The life summary was given to the older adult during their last visit. As part of a Practice with Individuals class, BSW students shadowed a licensed MSW social worker on the teaching staff at the Reynold's Center on Aging, which is part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. In this half day experiential learning project, students participated in two home visit case management assignments using the interviewing and assessing skills they were developing in their practice class.

In both projects, students were given a small stipend to cover the costs of participating as well as extra credit for their class grade. There was great interest in both programs, especially the home visit program with the medical school facility. Students doing the home visits showed a statistically increased interest in working with older adults and being open to either taking gerontology courses or making gerontological social work a career.

Courses that Included Experiential Activity:

• Human Behavior & The Social Environment
• Practice with Individuals
• Introduction to Social Work