PHD 1410
AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
SYLLABUS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores agencies, organizations, and services available for the aging population. It will provide the students a basic understanding of aging policies that created the aging network and review programs and services provided within this network. Students will learn of community resources available for older adults, how the programs came to exist through federal and state legislation, people who uses these resources, how they are delivered and the challenges of meeting the future needs of the aging population. (2 credits) (NCCAP #25059-07)
Julie Reginek
Ridgewater College
2 Century Ave
Hutchinson, MN 55350
Office: 320-234-8588
Fax: 320-234-8512
Email: julie.reginek@ridgewater.edu
Online hours; TBD
TEXT AND REFERENCES
Wacker, R., Roberto, K., Piper, L. Community Resources for Older Adults . Pine Forge Press (2002).
Textbook is available online at Ridgewater College bookstore. Additional references will be provided online.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
All students in this course are required to have an email account, have access to a computer and the Internet. Student will be required to interact throughout the semester using threaded discussions and -mail for peer and instructor communication. Although the course is taught online, students may need to research relevant topics in a nearby library.
Assignments and projects are required to be submitted on or before the due date. Please check the schedule for due dates. Dropbox folders will also have the due date. Assignments will receive a deduction of 5 points for each day beyond the due date. After 1 week, the assignment will no longer be accepted. The exception to this is if there are technical difficulties with D2L or Ridgewater College's server.
EVALUATION AND GRADING
Grading is based on the following percentage;
100-98 A
97-95 A-
94-93 B+
92-88 B
87-85 B-
84-83 C+
82-78 C
77-75 C-
74-73 D+
72-68 D
67-66 D-
64
F
Mandatory Assignments
Chapter Assignments (40%)
There will be assignments for each chapter. These assignments will require a variety of different methods of work such as interviews, community research, and web searches. All assignments are required to be submitted via the Dropbox in the appropriate labeled folder. Please make note of the submission deadline. After the deadline date, the folder is closed and will not accept assignments. I have included a 16 week schedule of readings and assignments due dates for your convenience. It is located in the orientation unit. All assignment need to have good spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and address the topic of the assignment.
Class Participation (20%)
Your success in this course is based on active, continued class participation. You need to read assigned chapters and articles in order to be prepared for the discussion of the topic. You also need to participate in weekly activities, assignments and discussions. Please refer to Guidelines for Online Participation for specific criteria.
Mid-Term Exam (20%)
Each student will take the mid-term exam. This exam will cover all assigned materials covered until the day of the mid-term.
Final Exam (20%)
Each student will take the final exam. This exam will cover all assigned materials covered after the mid-term until the day of the final.
COURSE GOALS
Chapter 1 New Era
Growth of the older population
Demographic characteristics
Impact on community resources
Chapter 2 Legislative Foundations
Foundations for social programs and aging network
Older American Act funding and program outcomes
Community based programs
Chapter 3 Patterns of Service Use
Network of social care
- Informal and Formal
- Psychosocial Theories
Chapter 4 Information and Referral
Function of Information and Referral
Programs available: characteristics and users
Challenges for programs
Chapter 5 Volunteer and Intergenerational
Characteristics of older volunteers
Policies for volunteer programs
Types of volunteer programs for seniors
Chapter 6 Education Programs
Policy background for education programs
Higher education for aging
Elderhostels
Community based education
Chapter 7 Senior Centers and Recreation
Characteristics of senior participants
Senior Center models and programs
Future challenges for senior centers
Chapter 8 Employment Programs
Characteristics of older workers
Federal employment and training programs
Challenges for older worker employment programs
Retirement impact
Chapter 9 Income Programs
Policy background for income programs
- Social Security
- Pensions
- Supplemental Income
Future challenges for maintaining income programs for seniors
Chapter 10 Nutrition and Meal Programs
Nutritional status of older adults
Types of programs
- Congregate meal sites
- Home-delivered meals
- Food banks
Chapter 11 Health Care and Wellness
Health status of older adults
Federal health care policies
- Medicare
- Medicaid
Health promotion programs
Chapter 12 Mental Health
Policy background for mental health services
Mental health programs
Mental health services for family caregivers
Chapter 13 Legal Services
Policy background for legal services
Legal problems of older adults
Legal assistance programs
Chapter 14 Transportation
Programs for transportation services
Meeting transportation needs for older adults
Challenges for transportation programs
Chapter 15 Housing
Housing programs and options for older adults
- Independent living
- Retirement communities
- Supported living environments
- Congregate housing
- Continuing Care Retirement communities
- Assisted Living
- Personal Care Homes
- Foster Care
- Long Term Care
Chapter 16 Case Management
Case management programs and users
Characteristics of clients
Chapter 17 Home Care Services
Policy background affecting home care
Characteristics of home care clients
Home care programs
Hospice
Chapter 18 Respite
Policy background supporting Respite care for older adults
Users of Respite care
In-home care programs
Adult Day Services programs
Institutional programs
Chapter 19 Long Term Care
Policies affecting long term care industry
Levels of long term care: subacute and specialized units
Resident rights
Ombudsman program
Resident councils
Quality of life issues
Future challenges for long term care
Chapter 20 Programs and Services in the Era of Change
Future challenges in programs and services for the aging population
Social influences
Political influences
Serving a new generation of older adults
COURSE ORIENTATION AND GUIDELINES FOR ONLINE PARTICIPATION
The following is an overview of what you need to know to be successful in learning online. Please read the following information very carefully.
It is suggested that students have high speed internet connection, a dependable computer, and access to the internet daily.
Necessary Skills for Online Learning
You should have a foundation of basic time management and computer skills in order to be successful in this course. Essential skills include;
Basic computer skills: keyboarding and using a mouse, using word processing for setting up and managing files, saving your work to the files, retrieving files, using proper formatting and page set up for word documents. Good writing communication skills such as spelling, grammar and sentence structure.
Internet basics: internet accessibility, using a browser, accessing websites, searching the Web for resources, downloading, saving, and printing files. Students must have access to a computer at various times throughout the day and week, have an email account with the ability to communicate using email.
Interaction: utilizing threaded discussions, chat rooms, email, sending, receiving and opening e-mail attachments.
Netiquette: knowing what is appropriate in the interaction and communication with your peers and instructor
Time Management: being able to manage your time well and get assignments in on time. Setting aside uninterrupted time each week to work on assignments and participate in the discussions will be essential.
Feedback: providing your peers with perceptive, constructive and fair feedback. This is an online community of learners in which all of us should feel comfortable to share and learn.
- Attendance and presence are required for this course. Expect to spend a minimum of 4-6 hours online each week participating in discussions, groupwork, completing assignments and research. It is recommended that you login to the class at least daily to see if you have any messages or if there are news items that are important.
- You are expected to post a substantative contribution to the threaded discussion topics. Simply saying "hello" or "I agree" is not considered a substantative contribution. You must support your position or idea, share an experience that relates to the topic, ask further questions or clarification, etc. Your original post for the threaded discussion topic needs to be posted by Thursday night at 10:00 pm. This will allow class members ample time to respond to other students posts. You are also responsible for responding to or answering questions that other students ask you. Threaded Discussion are 20% of your grade. See below for Threaded Discussion grading rubric.
- Content, readings, assignments and other course related material for each chapter are scheduled to be released each week, Monday morning at 6:00 am. The week ends on Sunday night at 11:59 pm. It is the student's responsibility to follow the schedule and be aware of due dates and other course related requirements.
- Use good "etiquette," such as:
- Check the discussion frequently and respond appropriately and on subject.
- Focus on one subject per message and use pertinent subject titles.
- Capitalize words only to highlight a point or for titles-capitalizing is generally viewed as SHOUTING!
- Be professional and careful with your online interaction. Carefully and thoughtfully think about your responses.
- Cite all quotes, references, and sources.
- When posting a long message, it is generally considered courteous to warn readers at the beginning of the message that it is a lengthy post.
- It is fine to use humor, but use it carefully. The absence of face-to-face cues can cause humor to be misinterpreted as criticism or flaming.