Paying for college:
| New course | Undergraduate |
| First term offered : | ||
| Course Prefix&Number | Descriptive Title | Credits/Hours |
| Psy 320 | Introduction to Geropsychology | 4 - |
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Abbreviation for Class Schedule(20 spaces) Intro Geropsychology |
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Catalog Description: Explores the relationships between psychological, physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social aspects of older adults¿ lives. In addition, topics related to living environments, retirement, social support, family relationships, and diseases of older adulthood will be covered. |
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Course Goal and Objectives: The goal of the course is to introduce students to the theories and practices related to the interdisciplinary field of geropsychology. Students will learn about the relationships between psychological, physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social aspects of older adults¿ lives. In addition, topics related to living environments, retirement, social support, family relationships, and diseases of older adulthood will be covered. This course will provide a foundation of knowledge for students who want to pursue more training or careers in fields related to gerontology and psychology. |
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Justification for adding the course (e.g. alignment with other institutions, program revision, etc.): Although we have a course (Psy 483) designed to cover developmental psychology issues of adulthood (i.e., early adulthood, mid adulthood, and later adulthood). We don¿t have a course that focuses specifically on older adulthood. Given that many of our graduates will work with older adult populations it is imperative that we expand our offerings and fill this hole in our program¿s offerings. Moreover, given the expected growth in our older adult population, we need to offer courses that will help train students to work with older adults. According the U.S. Department of Labor, employment in home health care services are expected to increase 69.5% between 2004 and 2014, during the same time period, community care services for the elderly are expected to see a 54.8% increase in the need for qualified employees. People from a broad range of career fields who have received training in geropsychology will be more marketable and provide important services for our community. The aging population is driving much of the increased need in the medical field. An understanding of geropsychology will help people who go into the following professions: medical assistants (52.1% increase expected between 2004 and 2014) physical therapists (36.7%), physical therapy assistants (44.2%), occupational therapists (33.6%), occupational therapy assistants (34.1%), as well as nurses and many other human service careers. |
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Faculty and facilities needed: Our current faculty and facilities are sufficient to meet the needs of this new course. |
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Brief Course outline: Introduction to Geropsychology 1. What is geropsychology 2. Demographics and epidemiology of older adults 3. Living environments 4. The continuum of care (from independent living through skilled nursing and memory care) 5. Physiology of aging 6. Behavioral changes and aging 7. Cognitive changes and aging 8. Social support and aging 9. Family relationships and aging 10. Retirement 11. Diseases of older adulthood |
| Step | Approver | Decision | Timestamp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - Department | Rob Winningham | Approved | November 10 2009 |
| 2 - Division | Rob Winningham | Approved | November 11 2009 |
| 3 - Division Curriculum | Eric Cooley | Approved | November 11 2009 |
| 5 - Curriculum Committee | Laurie Burton | Approved | November 18 2009 |
| 6 - Faculty Senate | Katherine Schmidt | Approved | January 08 2010 |
| 7 - Dean | Stephen Scheck | Approved | January 09 2010 |
| 8 - Provost | Kent Neely | Approved | January 10 2010 |
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