Dr. Deborah T. Gold
Spring, 2004
Course Requirements
Your grade will be based in large part on your performance on two major assignments: a mid-term paper and a final, longer research paper. The midterm paper (due February 24) can be on any topic discussed in class prior to its due date and should illustrate how well you apply concepts that we have learned in the course to this point. Application is more important than memorization and, because, this course has a W (Writing) designation for Curriculum 2000, it is better served by papers than by objective tests.
The final paper 15-20 pages in length will require research related to aging and health. Get your topic approved before you start writing. The paper will be due on the final day of class (4/20) at the beginning of class. Peer-reviewed journal articles should be the primary sources of information unless you have specific approval from me to use books. Internet sites are unacceptable for academic research. NOTE: If you include a URL (e.g., www.XXX.com) in your bibliography, your grade on the paper will be lowered one grade.
In addition to the papers, you have a LEAPS requirement (explained below) and a Journal Article Review requirement (explained on page 3).
LEAPS (Learning through Experience, Action, Partnership, and Service)
In addition to your papers and journal article assignments, this class has a required LEAPS or Service Learning component. If you are unfamiliar with LEAPS, you will learn quickly as someone from the LEAPS program will also be in to talk with us very soon. LEAPS gives you the opportunity to Alearn while doing@ and also exposes you to sides of human development and life that you might not otherwise see. For this class, the LEAPS coordinator will help you find a volunteer placement at a local organization serving senior citizens (nursing home, life care community, senior center or whatever). To meet the LEAPS requirement for the class, you must do the following:
1. Spend at least two hours a week or 20 total hours during the semester volunteering at an approved LEAPS site. (Week 1 of classes and spring break do not count.)
2. Attend 4 reflection sessions during the semester. These are sessions run by the LEAPS student coordinators that give you an opportunity to discuss your experiences as well as hear about those of the other students. It is also a place where gripes can be discussed (though they should not just be gripe sessions). One of these will be held during class; the rest will be outsides of class. The leaders give me attendance records at the end of the semester.
3. Write at least 1 handwritten page in a journal for each 2-hour experience. You should record special circumstances or experiences and identify how you feel and what you learn while volunteering. This is not a diary; simply listing your activities is insufficient. The journal must have 10 entries, 1 per 2 hour block. Journal due the final day of class (April 20).
Students who have participated in this before have not only learned a great deal from it but have also really enjoyed it! If you have questions, please feel free to ask. Questions about grading should go to me; questions about volunteering and placements should go to the facilitators.
| Grades will be calculated on the following basis: | |
| Mid-term paper | 20% |
| Research paper | 30% |
| Journal Article Summaries | 15% |
| LEAPS participation & journal | 20% |
| Class participation | 15% |
Borderline grades can be positively affected by class participation. Such participation includes both attending class regularly and participating in discussion.
Books: We will use three books this year. All three are available in paperback.
Austad, S.A. (1997). Why We Age. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Kahn, RL, and Rowe, JW (1999). Successful Aging. New York: Dell .
Oberlander, J. (2003). The Political Life of Medicare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
See the attached syllabus (pages 8-9) for specific assignments.
Journal Article Bibliography
Directions: In the Readings section of your syllabus, some of the topics have "journal article" listed. For those days, you need to look up the topic up on pages 4-6 of this syllabus, find the suggested journal articles, and read at least one of them. Once you have completed reading an article, you need to type (double spaced)the following on a single page: the authors' names, the year, the title of the article, the name of the journal (underlined), the volume number (underlined), and the page numbers. Then write a one-page précis of the article. This should include 2 paragraphs. The first should be a brief description of the study or studies described in the article (or the topic of discussion in the article). The second should state whether you agree or disagree with the article and why.
These journal article summaries are due on the date on the syllabus, and their cumulative total will be worth 10% of your grade. You will get either a plus (great), a check (adequate), or a zero (unacceptable) as a grade for each précis.
Copies of the journal articles will be made available to you via the web or the library. They are all in .pdf format that you can copy to your computer or print. Each article is labeled with both topic and number (Coping, the 5th topic, has four possible articles called Coping 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4. )
If you have questions about these assignments, please see Dr. Gold.
Sociology 163, Spring 2004: Journal Article Topics
| 1. | MEDICARE Tuesday, 1/27 |
| 1.1 | Henton FE et al. Determinants of medical home healthcare service use among Medicare recipients. Nursing Research. 2002, 51:335-362. |
| 1.2 | Bratzler DW et al. Failure to vaccinate Medicare patients. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2002, 162:2349-2356. |
| 1.3 | Sloan FA. et al. Does the ownership of the admitting
hospital make a difference? Outcomes and process of care of Medicare
beneficiaries admitted with acute myocardial infarction. Medical
Care. 41:1193-205, 2003. |
| FUNCTIONAL DECLINE AND HEALTH Tuesday, 2/10 | |
| 2.1 | Vaccarino V et al. Differences between African Americans and whites in the outcome of heart failure: evidence for a greater functional decline in African-Americans. American Heart Journal. 2002, 143:1058-1067. |
| 2.2 | Jensen GL, Friedmann JM. Obesity is associated with functional decline in community-dwelling older persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2002, 50:918-923. |
| 2.3 | Holtzman J et al. Effect of baseline functional status and pain on outcomes of total hip arthroplasty. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2002, 84:1942-1948. |
| INFORMAL SOCIAL SUPPORT Thursday, 2/19 | |
| 3.1 | Czaja S, Rubert MP. Telecommunications technology as an aid to family caregivers of persons with dementia. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2002, 64:469-476. |
| 3.2 | Grant JS et al. Telephone intervention with family caregivers of stroke survivors after rehabilitation. Stroke. 2002, 33:3060-3065. |
| 3.3 | Kraus N, Shaw BA. Welfare participation and social support in later life. Psychology and Aging. 2002, 27:260-270. |
| SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS Tuesday, 3/2 | |
| 4.1 | Gerdner LA et al. Impact of a psychoeducational intervention on caregiver response to behavioral problems. Nursing Research. 2002, 51: 363-374. |
| 4.2 | Beck CK et al. Effect of behavioral interventions on disruptive behavior and affect in demented nursing home residents. Nursing Research. 2002, 51:219-228. |
| 4.3 | Barr RG et al. Patient factors and medication guideline adherence among older women with asthma. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2002, 162:1761-1768. |
| COPING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS Thursday, 3/18 | |
| 5.1 | Robichaud L, Lamarre C. Developing an instrument for identifying coping strategies used by the elderly to remain autonomous. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2002, 81:736-744. |
| 5.2 | O=Neill ES. Illness representations and coping of women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a pilot study. Heart and Lung. 2002, 31:295-302. |
| 5.3 | Nordin K et al. Coping style, psychological distress, risk perception, and satisfaction in subjects attending genetic counseling for hereditary cancer. Journal of Medical Genetics. 2002, 39:689-694. |
| ALZHEIMER=S DISEASE Thursday, 4/1 | |
| 6.1 | Engelhart MJ et al. Dietary intake of antioxidants and risk of Alzheimer disease. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002, 287:3223-3229. |
| 6.2 | Earnst KS et al. Cognitive models of physicians= legal standard and personal judgments of competency in patients with Alzheimer=s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2000, 48:919-927. |
| 6.3 | Winters S. Alzheimer disease from a child's perspective. Geriatric Nursing. 24:36-9, 2003 |
| LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT, DNR, AND LIVING WILLS Thursday, 4/8 | |
| 7.1 | Schwartz CE et al. Early intervention in planning end-of-life care with ambulatory geriatric patients. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2002, 162:1611-1618. |
| 7.2 | Desbiens NA. Deciding on anticoagulating the oldest old with atrial fibrillation: insights from cost-effectiveness analysis. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2002, 50:863-869. |
| 7.3 | American Medical Association. Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. Optimal use of orders not to intervene and advance directives. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law. 4:668-75, 1998 |
| DEATH AND DYING Thursday, 4/15 | |
|
8.1 |
Jamison S. Factors to consider before participating in a hastened death: issues for medical professionals. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law. 6(2):416-33, 2000 |
| 8.2 | Finucane TE. Care of patients nearing death: another view. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2002, 50:551-553. |
| 8.3 | Miller SC et al. Does receipt of hospice care in nursing homes improve the management of pain at the end of life? Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2002, 50:507-515. |
| Sociology 163:
Aging and Health Syllabus |
||
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| Thursday, 1/8 | Introduction and Overview | |
| Tuesday, 1/13 | The Epidemiology of Aging | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 1 Austad, Chapter 1 |
| Thursday, 1/15 | Health in Later Life: General Issues | Austad, Chapter 5 & 6 |
| Tuesday, 1/20 | The Biology of Aging | Austad, Chapter 3 & 4 |
| Thursday, 1/22 | The Biology of Aging (cont.) | Austad, Chapter 7 |
| Tuesday, 1/27 | Medicare and Medicaid | Oberlander, Chapter 1 journal article 1 due |
| Thursday, 1/29 | Health Care Economics | Oberlander, Chapters 2 & 3 |
| Tuesday, 2/3 | Health Services for the Elderly: | Oberlander, Chapters 4 & 5 |
| Thursday, 2/5 | Social Characteristics and Health | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 2 |
| Tuesday, 2/10 | Functional Decline and Health | journal article 2 due |
| Thursday, 2/12 | Long-Term Care: Community-Based Solutions | Oberlander, Chapter 6 |
| Tuesday, 2/17 | Long-Term Care: Effects of Institutionalization | Austad, Chapter 2 |
| Thursday, 2/19 | Informal Support: Family as Caregivers | Rowe & Kahn, Chpts 3 & 4 journal article 3 due |
| Tuesday, 2/24 | Social Support: Instrumental and Emotional | MIDTERM PAPER DUE |
| Thursday, 2/26 | Psychosocial Aspects of Aging and Health: Social Networks | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 5 |
| Tuesday, 3/2 | Psychosocial Aspects of Aging and Health: Social and Behavioral Interventions | journal article 4 due Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 6 |
| Thursday, 3/4 | Chronic Illness in Late Life | Austad, Chapter 8 |
| Tues, 3/9 & Thurs, 3/11 | SPRING BREAK | |
| Tuesday, 3/16 | Coping with Chronic Illness | Austad, Chapter 9 |
| Thursday, 3/18 | Coping (continued) | journal article 5 due |
| Tuesday, 3/23 | Aging, Stress, and Disease | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 7 |
| Thursday, 3/25 | Mental Health and the Elderly | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 8 |
| Tuesday, 3/30 | Alzheimer's Disease | Oberlander, Chapters 6 & 7 |
| Thursday, 4/1 | Alzheimer's Disease (cont.) | journal article 6 due |
| Tuesday, 4/6 | Health Promotion and Disease Prevention | Austad, Chapter10 Rowe & Kahn, Chpts 9 & 10 |
| Thursday, 4/8 | Life-Sustaining Treatment, DNR, & Living Wills | journal article 7 due |
| Tuesday, 4/13 | Death and Dying | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 11 |
| Thursday, 4/15 | Death and Dying (cont.) | journal article 8 due |
| Tuesday, 4/20 | Summary and Conclusions | Rowe & Kahn, Chapter 12 RESEARCH PAPER DUE LEAPS JOURNAL DUE |