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ABSTRACT
Loneliness and isolation are concerning consequences of social distancing and other stay-at-home orders for older adults globally, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat loneliness and isolation among older adults residing in California, the Keck School of Medicine collaborated with other health profession schools at the University of Southern California (USC) to create the Age-Friendly Student Senior Connection (AFSSC). A total of 115 interprofessional graduate students were linked with older adults. Students engaged in 30 to 60 minute phone calls with older adults 2 to 5 times per week for 6 weeks. Student preparation included asynchronous video and web-based learning, weekly synchronous de-briefing sessions with a participating faculty member via Zoom, phone, and e-mail support from faculty, and information about resources for older adults. Faculty held weekly meetings throughout the pilot and developed new resources to respond to older adult needs, as reported by students. A total of 102 students completed pre-program and post-program surveys. Preliminary results show statistically significant changes in the reported benefits and outcomes from students participating in the program.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.
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Notes on contributors
Dawn Joosten-Hagye
Dawn M. Joosten-Hagye, PhD, LCSW, GC-C is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She teaches graduate level evidence-based social work practice courses. Prior to coming to USC in 2010, she was a post-doctoral fellow for the University of California, Los Angeles Frontiers in Human Aging Freshmen Cluster. She is a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience specializing in older adults with chronic and life threatening illnesses in acute, subacute, transitional, skilled, palliative care, home health/community settings, and behavioral health inpatient and outpatient settings. She has conducted over 8,000 home visits. She currently conducts individual and group psychotherapy with adults and older adults both in private telehealth practice and in outpatient partial hospitalization at Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach, CA. She engages in interprofessional-education training and research in campus, community-based and virtual settings nationally and internationally. She is a member of the Interprofessional Global workgroup and serves as a committee member for a Global IPECP Situational Analysis Task Force. She is a consulting editor for the Journal of Health & Social Work. She is the author of a textbook titled Social Work Practice with Older Adults: An Evidence-based Approach and co-editor of a textbook titled Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice: International Micro, Meso and Macro Approaches.
Anne Katz
Dr. Anne Katz is a Clinical Professor of Social Work at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Prior to joining the school of social work in 2014, she was the Co-Director of the USC Tingstad Older Adult Counseling Center and a Professor of Clinical Gerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology for 24 years. Her research interests include: interprofessional education, aging in prison, HIV/AIDS and older adults, women’s issues and aging, caregiver stress, and counseling older adults. Dr. Katz was the lead faculty for the Student Senior Partnership Program (SSPP), one of four programs funded by HRSA under the title of “Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program” to develop a comprehensive interprofessional geriatric primary care-based assessment and training program with an emphasis on training and team-based care. Dr. Katz also supervised the “Healing Squad,” a program that provided social work and gerontology interns a rare opportunity to go inside a state prison and work in a therapeutic environment with elderly female inmates, a much neglected and vulnerable population.
Theresa Sivers-Teixeira
Theresa Sivers-Teixeira, MSPA, PA-C is a physician assistant specializing in geriatrics. She practices clinically providing person-centered care for older adults and their care partners. She is an education advisor and professional educator for the National Center on Elder Abuse and a faculty member in the Family Medicine & Geriatrics Department at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Research interests include elder mistreatment and interprofessional geriatric education. Current research projects include California Adult Protective Services Interview for Decisional Ability RCT with funding from the Administration for Community Living, National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment Feasibility Study with funding from John A Hartford Foundation; Abuse Intervention Prevention Judicial Project with funding from the Department of Justice and the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Project with funding from HRSA.
Jeanine Yonshiro-Cho
Jeanine Yonshiro-Cho, PhD is a post-doctoral research associate at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in the Department of Family Medicine. Her research interests focus on improving and preserving the health and well-being of older adults with a particular focus on reducing health disparities and protecting vulnerable elders. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Jeanine served as the State of Hawaii’s Planner for Aging Services where she worked to strengthen Hawaii’s aging services infrastructure and development of evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs for older adults. Through this assignment, she became interested in researching the ways health and social service networks can be used to inform public policy, pilot interventions, and disseminate evidence-based services and supports.