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University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi’s program goals were to provide face-to-face experiences for students with an older population, develop knowledge and practice skills for working with an older population, and provide service-learning opportunities for students. The intended outcomes of these goals were to enable students to develop knowledge and skills in understanding what support systems enhance aging, what additional resources elders and communities could utilize, how to inform elders and communities of availability of resources, and the ability to enhance the psychosocial functioning of individuals in residential services. Experiential activities included conducting oral interviews in order to assess and compare various types of supports and their effect on aging in place, conducting needs assessments to learn community interventions in order to develop elder-friendly communities, developing and conducting cognitive group activities with older adults in order to learn group and organizational interventions, and identifying resources for older adults and educating community members and older adults about resource availability.

Courses that Included Experiential Activity:

  • Human Behavior and the Social Environment
  • Practice with Groups
  • Social Work Research
  • Gerontology: Social Welfare Aspects

Gero Practice Behaviors:

  • Use educational strategies to provide older persons and their families with information related to wellness and disease management (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, end of life care).
  • Use empathy and sensitive interviewing skills to engage older clients in identifying their strengths and problems.
  • Identify the availability of resources and resource systems for older adults and their families.
  • Utilize group interventions with older adults and their families (e.g., bereavement groups, reminiscence groups).