Syllabus Fall 2007



Syllabus Fall 2007

GERO 589: Professional Issues in Gerontology Instructor:

Lecture 36355R Edward L. Schneider, M.D.

Friday, 9:00 AM to 11:50 AM Dean Emeritus

GER 230

and Office Hours:

GERO 589: Professional Issues in Gerontology Friday, 100 PM to 3:00 PM

Lecture 607-36354D Internet Course and by appointment

Live Stream, Friday, 9:00 AM to 11:50 AM PST

Otherwise Asynchronous Office: GER 226

Phone: (213) 740-8245

email: eschneid@usc.edu

Blackboard address:

Technical Support:

Jim Alejandre

Office, GER 234

Phone: (213) 448-6796

Phone: (213) 740-2590

Email: jalejand@usc.edu

Introduction and Purpose

The purpose of Gerontology 589: Professional Issues in Gerontology is to introduce students to the various career tracks available to persons with a graduate degree in gerontology. In addition, this course will explore many of the issues that professionals working in the field of aging encounter. At the end of this course students will be better prepared to apply their gerontological knowledge to their future professional endeavors.

The objectives of this course include:

• Gaining a better understanding of employment opportunities available in the field of aging;

• An increased understanding of how your gerontological education may be applied in organizations outside of academia;

• The increased development of skills, knowledge and behaviors that are valuable to potential employers;

• Gaining practical knowledge related to the interviewing process, communications and internal polity;

• An increased understanding of the differences between public and corporate settings.

Course Delivery

This course is relatively unique and employs a variety of innovative educational experiences. It is important for all students to realize that this course is being offered in a traditional classroom setting as well as to students who are taking the course off campus via the Internet. The class is held in Gerontology 230, which is a technology-enhanced classroom. This room is equipped with video cameras and computers that allows for real-time streaming of the videotaped lecture. Distance learning students can view the lecture in real-time or they can replay the lecture at their convenience (think TiVO). This feature is useful for all students who wish to review the lecture regardless of which section they are enrolled in.

Each week all students will use the Internet for some portion of their course work. For example, several interviews with professionals working in the field of aging have been pre-recorded. Students will be expected to access these interviews from Blackboard (see access instructions below) before coming to class or if they are distance learning students, they should review these interviews in advance of participating in each week’s lesson.

This course will also include discussions with selected interviewees. Distance learning students should email their questions in advance of the discussion (Before 5:00 pm on the Thursday before the scheduled class at eschneid@usc.edu). Traditional students attending class on Friday should be prepared to ask questions and participate in the discussion.

Each week students will participate in a threaded discussion on the Blackboard site as well as explore selected websites and other resources. Students will be expected to read selected articles each week. These selected readings will be posted as PDF files on the Blackboard site as well. Finally, there will be an email assignment each week. All of these assignments are described in the syllabus.

This is an experimental delivery method and we anticipate that we will make changes to the course structure in order to be responsive to the needs of students as they arise.

Course Requirements and Grades

Weekly coursework

1) Interview Videos: The videos for the upcoming week’s topic must be watched before that class period. For example, students must watch week 5 videos before coming to class during week 4.

2) Readings: Each week there will be assigned readings and website locations related to the subjects to be discussed at the upcoming interview. There will also be additional topics that relate to careers in gerontology such as technology and ethnic and racial issues. In addition, there will be a week that focuses on job interviews, grant writing and leadership. The readings and websites will all be obtained online through Blackboard. The initial readings and websites will be listed at the end of the syllabus.

3) Online Threaded Discussions: Each week there will be one or more threaded discussion topics that further discuss the interviews and the selected aging fields. Threaded discussion topics will be posted on Friday afternoons at 3:00 PM and students must post their first threaded discussion by midnight Monday. The online threaded discussion will close at midnight Wednesday.

4) Email Assignments: For 10 of the weeks there will be an email assignment. The topics are listed at the end of this syllabus. These assignments should be sent to the instructor by email and should be:

1) 500 to 1000 words in length

2) Must be thoroughly proof read before being sent

3) APA style with references as appropriate

4) Saved as a Microsoft Word document. File names for these documents must include the student’s last name and week number, eg: Smith4, Davis 7, etc.

5) Emailed before the Friday lecture at 9:00 AM. For example Week 1 email exercise must be received before the lecture on 8/31/07.

Final Paper

The final paper is due 12/13/07 at midnight. The final paper should focus on a topic of interest related to the interviews that have been conducted. The topics should be related to an area of student interest but should not be overbroad or too ambitious in scope. A few examples of topics that are too broad include: Long Term Care or Nursing Homes. However, topics like comparing PACE with conventional nursing home care or discussing new models for Alzheimer care would be fine. Please send the instructor the topic of your final paper at least four weeks before the due date for approval. The instructor will respond as promptly as possible and either approve the topic or suggest possible alternatives. Unapproved topics submitted as final papers risk rejection. Final papers should be

1) 2500 to 5000 words in length

2) Must be thoroughly proof read before being sent

3) APA style with references as appropriate

4) Saved as a Microsoft Word document. File names for these documents must include the students last name and final appended, eg: Smithfinal, Davisfinal, etc.

COURSE GRADING

Weekly assignments (10) : 5% for each week or 50% total

Threaded discussions/In-class participation: 15%

Final exam: 35%

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Statement on Academic Integrity

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: . Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: .

Blackboard Access

In order to view your course, you will need to login to USC's Blackboard portal. () This portal will be instrumental in interacting with your fellow students and professor--from online discussion boards to watching the video interviews to submitting papers or exams. The orientation may cover features you may not even use--The use of any or all of these features is up to your professor.

To login to Blackboard you will use your USC login/password (this is the same you would use to check your USC email address). If you do not have a USC email account or are unsure of its status, please visit or call 213.740.5555 for assistance.

Once you have access to your Blackboard account. You should now see the welcome menu, in the "My Courses" list choose the LDS distance learning course that you are enrolled in for the “20073” semester. You are now logged into Blackboard and can use all the options.

For Blackboard and other questions please go to the Virtual Orientation link at

Assignments (Fall 2007)

Beginning of Week 1 - Introduction to Gero 589

Online session interviews

In preparation for Week 1 Interactive Class: Jewish Home of Los Angeles (Arnie Possick and Molly Forrest)

Week 1 (Friday, August 31) - NON-PROFIT LONG TERM CARE (In Class Interviewees: Arnie Posack, Jewish Home of Los Angeles)

Online session interviews

In preparation for Week 2 Interactive Class: Southern California Presbyterian Homes (Greg Bearce, Marc Herrera, Mike Townsend, and Dan Ogus)

Reading Assignment:

Week 1 PDFs relate to Assisted Living

1) A national survey of assisted living facilities

2) Improving assisted living care

Week 2 PDFs relate to Long Term Care

1) The past and future of home- and community-based long-term care

2) Commentary: Who will care for the frail elderly?

3) Long term care: Facts and figures

4) Long term care reform: Recommendations for change

Web Sites:

• Jewish Home of LA website:

• American Association of Homes and Services of America:

• American Health Care Association:

• Southern California Presbyterian Homes:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

1) Introduce yourself to your classmates. On line students tell us about your current occupations. All students can discuss what they expect to get out of GERO 589

2) Discuss the Jewish Home model of a Continuing Care Retirement Community. What are the strengths of this facility? Can you think of some things that they should do but are not currently doing?

Email Assignment:

1) One of your PDFs is the California Health Care Foundation report on Reforming Long Term Care. They focused on three areas. Pick the area that you think is equally important and is not covered by this report and in your email assignment, explain why you think this area is important and what can be done about it.

Week 2 (Friday, September 7) - NON-PROFIT LONG TERM CARE (In Class Interviewees: Greg Bearce, Southern California Presbyterian Homes)

Online session interviews

In preparation for Week 3 Interactive Class: City of Los Angeles Department of Aging (Laura Trejo, Erin Westphal, and Jane Stumbo)

Reading Assignment:

Week 3 PDFs relate to federal programs on aging.

1) The Medicare drug benefit: Changes in California for 2007

2) Medi-Cal facts and figures: A look at California’s Medicaid program

3) Evidence-based medicine and policy: The case of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator

Web Sites:

• LA Department of Aging:

• National Association of Area Agencies on Aging:

• History of Meals on Wheels:

• Meals on Wheels Association of America:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

Greg Bearce is the COO of an organization that provides the whole spectrum of long term care. Contrast Southern California Presbyterian Homes with the Jewish Home of Los Angeles. What are the differences and what are the similarities?

Email Assignment:

The Week 3 article on Evidence Based Medicine by Mark A. Hlatky, Gillian D. Sanders, and Douglas K. Owens discusses the dilemma faced by policy makers in approving reimbursement for new high technology devices. What do you think we should do to balance the increasing costs of health care with the introduction of new life-saving technology? What advice would you give to policymakers to help them with this tough decision?

Week 3 (Friday, September 14 )- LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS ON AGING (In Class Interviewee: Laura Trejo, Manager, Department of Aging, City of Los Angeles)

In preparation for Week 4 Interactive Class: Gerontologists in the Workforce (Jay

Week 4 PDFs relate to some controversial issues in health care such as Health Care Westbrook, Kali Peterson, Maria Dwight, Alexis Abramson, Enna Lee, Christy Nishita, Lucy Khachayan)

Reading Assignment: Reform, Risk-Benefit Analysis, Evidence Based Medical Decisions and Mental Health Services.

1. Changes in mental health financing since 1971: Implications for policymakers and patients

2. Health care reform: Why? What? When?

3. The risk-benefit balance in the United States: Who decides?

4. Prices, profits, and innovation: Examining criticisms of new psychotropic drugs’ value

5. The rise in health care spending and what to do about it

6. Evidence –based medicine: A unified approach

Web Site Assignments:

• Retirement Living Television:

• Falls Prevention Center of Excellence:

• Gero Careers:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

What do you think of Laura Trejo’s job as the manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging? What do you think will happen to the Department as the City of Los Angeles continues to age?

Email Assignment:

Assume that you became the Secretary of Health and Human Services and were concerned about health care in this country, what would you do to improve health services? Base this discussion on the articles assigned for this week.

Week 4 (Friday, September 21) - GERONTOLOGISTS IN THE WORKFORCE (In Class Interviewees: Jay Westbrook, Kali Peterson)

In preparation for Week 5 Interactive Class: For-Profit Long Term Care: (Stephen Weissman, Mike Torgan, Rachel Bennett, Sharon Gincheansky, and Alex McNeal)

Reading Assignment:

Week 5 PDFs cover many aspects of Nursing Homes.

1. Snapshot: The changing face of California’s nursing home industry, 2007

2. For-profit versus not-for-profit delivery of long-term care

3. The relationship between quality of care and financial performance in nursing homes

4. Snapshot: Nursing homes: A system in crisis, 2004

5. Nursing homes as complex adaptive systems: Relationship between management practice and resident outcomes

6. A ripe old age: Editorial

Web Site Assignments:

• Country Villa:

• National Nursing Home Survey Data:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

You have heard from some of our talented graduates describing their career paths in gerontology. What new careers do you think will be available in the future?

Email Assignment:

In one of the PDFs this week, Dr. Hadley discusses in his article “A Ripe Old Age” the fruitlessness of aggressive interventions in octogenarians. Do you agree or disagree with his assessment? Present your argument pro or con.

Week 5 (Friday, September 28) - FOR-PROFIT LONG TERM CARE (In Class Interviewees: Michael Turgon, Rachel C. Bennett, Sharon Gincheansky, and Alex McNeal, Country Villa Healthcare Management)

In preparation for Week 6 Interactive Class: For Profit Long Term Care: On the Frontlines with Nursing Home Administrators (Mariette Salama and Robbie Banafsheha)

Reading Assignment:

Week 6 PDFs cover a few more topics related to nursing home care.

1. Staff turnover and quality of care in nursing homes

2. Exploring nursing home staff’s perceptions of communication and leadership to facilitate quality improvement

3. The effect of Medicaid reimbursement on quality of care in nursing homes

4. The situation with nursing homes

5. The regulation and enforcement of federal nursing home standards, 1991-1997

Web Site Assignments:

• National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

TBD

Email Assignment: The number of nursing homes and nursing home beds in the US is declining. See

Why do you think this is happening? Will this trend change in the future and if so, why?

Week 6 (Friday, October 5) - FOR PROFIT LONG TERM CARE (In Class Interviewees: Mariette Salama, Country Villa Health Care Administrators)

In preparation for Week 7 Interactive Class: Home Health Care (Larissa A. Stepanians)

Reading Assignment:

Week 7 PDFs relate to home health care.

1. Basic statistics about home care: Updated 2004

2. Public awareness of home care

Web Site Assignments:

• National Association of Home and Hospice Care:

• National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

The Nursing Home administrator is the CEO of a multimillion dollar operation. This much daily responsibility brings lots of responsibilities with it. Is this something that appeals to you?

Email Assignment:

Ollie A. Randall was a lifelong advocate for the elderly. She was a founder of the National Council on the Aging. Since Ollie Randall wrote the classic article (one of the assigned articles) on the need for nursing home reform in 1965, what substantial progress has been made?

Week 7 (Friday, October12 ) - HOME HEALTH CARE (In Class Interviewes: Larissa A. Stepanians, Home Health Care)

In preparation for Week 8 Interactive Class: Geriatrics: Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy (Freddie Segal-Gidan, Diana Schneider, Nick Greco, Rosanne Mulligan, Robert Landel, Bradley Williams)

Reading Assignment:

Week 8 PDFs cover a few more topics related to geriatrics

1. The meaning of rehabilitation in the home environment after acute stroke from the perspective of a multiprofessional team

2. The training of geriatricians in the United States: Three decades of progress

3. Teaching interdisciplinary geriatrics ambulatory care: A case study

4. Effects of a geriatrics interdisciplinary experience on learners’ knowledge and attitudes

5. The consortium of e-learning in geriatrics instruction

6. Gerontology and geriatric issues and trends in U.S. nursing programs: A national survey

Web Site Assignments:

• American Geriatrics Society:

• American Society for Geriatric Dentistry:

• American Society of Consultant Pharmacists:

• Section on Geriatrics, American Physical Therapy Association:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

Most people would prefer to receive long term care in their own homes. What are the barriers that might prevent all older persons from having this opportunity?

Email Assignment:

none

Week 8 (Friday, October 19) - THE GERIATRIC TEAM: Geriatric Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physician Assistants (In Class Interviewee: Diana Schneider)

In preparation for Week 9 Interactive Class: Foundations Supporting Programs Related to Gerontology (Laura Giles, The Archstone Foundation and Ray Reisler, The Mark Taper Foundation)

Reading Assignment:

Week 9 PDFs cover various aspects of Ageism

1. Are psychiatrists guilty of ‘ageism’ when it comes to taking a sexual history?

2. Rural physicians’ attitudes toward the elderly: Evidence of ageism?

3. Colonoscopy in the very old: Why bother?

4. Ageism in medical students’ treatment recommendations: The example of breast-conserving procedures

5. Ageism in the management of lung cancer

6. Too old to care?

7. Evolution of statin prescribing 1994-2001: A case of agism but not of sexism

Web Site Assignments:

• Grantmakers in Aging:

• Archstone Foundation:

• Unihealth Foundation:

• Hartford Foundation:

• Brookdale Foundation:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

How has geriatrics fared as a subdiscipline in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, nursing, physical therapy and law.

Email Assignment:

none, use this time to work on your final paper.

Week 9 (Friday, October 26 ) - FOUNDATIONS THAT SUPPORT GERONTOLOGY (Raymond Reisler, The Mark Tapper Foundation)

In preparation for Week 10 Interactive Class: Federal Programs on Aging (Fernando Torres-Gil, Former Commissioner, Administration on Aging)

Reading Assignment:

Explore in depth the websites and their publications listed below for week 10

Web Site Assignments:

• Administration on Aging:

• National Institute on Aging:

• National Council on Aging;

• Social Security Administration:

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

If you were looking to get funding for a program that you were developing for older adults, what would be your first steps?

Email Assignment:

Ageism is alive and well in the United States as indicated by Week 9 PDFs. Are we making progress in conquering this problem/ What needs to be done? How could you contribute to eliminating this bias?

Week 10 (Friday, November 2 ) - FEDERAL PROGRAMS ON AGING (In Class Interviewee: Fernando Torres-Gil, Former Commissioner, Administration on Aging)

In preparation for Week 11 Interactive Class: Advocate Organizations, the Alzheimer Association (Peter Braun and other at Alzheimer Association, Los Angeles; and Stephen McConnell, Alzheimer Association, DC)

Reading Assignment:

Week 11 PDFs cover some aspects of Alzheimer disease and the Alzheimer Association.

1. Alzheimer’s Disease

2. Dementia care and Quality of life in assisted living and nursing homes: Perspectives of the Alzheimer’s Association

Web Site Assignments:

• Alzheimer Associaton:

• Alzheimer Association of Los Angeles:

• NIA Alzheimer Disease Information:

• Medline Plus Info on Alzheimer Disease:

• Mayo Clinic Info on Alzheimer Disease:

• Merck Manual Info on Alzheimer Disease:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

Can you accomplish more as a staff member of the Executive or Congressional branches of government to assist older Americans?

Email Assignment:

How have federal agencies contributed to the improvement of the lives of older Americans? Please be as specific as to what accomplishments by which agencies.

Week 11 (Friday, November 9 ) - ALZHEIMER ASSOCIATION (In Class Interviewee: Peter Braun, Executive Director, Alzheimer Association of Los Angeles)

In preparation for Week 12 Interactive Class: Gerontology on Campuses (Carl Renold and various Davis School of Gerontology Faculty members)

Reading Assignment:

Week 12 PDFs relate to Gerontology on campuses

1. Progress and challenges in graduate education in gerontology: The U.S. experience

2. Geriatrics and gerontology education for nurses: The AACN/Hartford partnership

3. European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology

4. On the tenure track in gerontology: I wish I had known then what I know now

5. Postgraduate education in gerontology in the Asia-Oceania region

Web Site Assignments:

• Leonard Davis School of Gerontology:

• Association for Gerontology in Higher Education:

Threaded Discussion Topic:

If you were to become the head of the national Alzheimer Association, what priorities would you have? Would you focus on research to find the cure for Alzheimer disease or instead try to assist those who have the disease and their caregivers?

Email Assignment:

Alzheimer disease is responsible for an enormous percent of long term care costs. Choose one of these:

1) If there was a cure for Alzheimer disease, what would happen to life expectancy and the health of older Americans?

2) If Alzheimer disease was cured and/or prevented, what would happen to the Alzheimer Association? (to answer this, you may wish to investigate what happened to other disease associations when cures and/or successful prevention occurred.

Week 12 (Friday, November 16) - USC DAVIS SCHOOL OF GERONTOLOGY FACULTY (In Class Interviewee: Carl Renold and other Faculty members TBD)

In preparation for Week 13 Interactive Class: Interviewing, Grant Writing and Leadership (Warren Bennis video and various comments)

Reading Assignment:

Explore and read the information on the websites listed below for week 13

Web Site Assignments:

• Grant Writing:

o

o

o

• Interviewing

o

o

o

Threaded Discussion Topic:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of academic life?

Email Assignment:

Write a letter of intent to obtain a grant for a non-profit organization working with older adults.

Week 13 (Friday, November 23 ) - NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING

Week 14 (Friday, November 30 ) - INTERVIEWING, GRANT WRITING AND LEADERSHIP

Reading Assignment:

Those for Final Paper

Web Site Assignments:

Those for Final Paper

Threaded Discussion Topic:

What do you think makes someone a leader?

Email Assignment:

none, use this time to work on your final paper.

Week (Friday, November 7 ) - 15 FINAL PAPER DUE

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