Opportunities to strengthen aging curricula across the health professions

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ABSTRACT

The rapidly aging population of the United States presents an urgent need for healthcare professionals trained in Gerontology, rooted in a holistic framework of health across the lifespan, and sustained by interprofessional collaborative practice. Institutions of higher education can meet this demand by aligning their curriculum and co-curriculum to train health sciences students in the increasingly important field of Gerontology. This IPEP guide will outline lessons learned at one University based on program director insight into aging-related courses, experiential training, and research opportunities. The lessons described here provide insight for other faculty and program directors on the current state of aging-related education and how to move from aging-related to aging-rich education in an interprofessional way.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education and practice
• health sciences education
• gerontology curriculum
• high impact practices
• experiential learning
• aging research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the GHR Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Criss Jasper Ririe

Criss Jasper Ririe is the program specialist for the Katies for Aging Research and Equity Program and a graduate student in the Master of Science in Nursing Program at St. Catherine University.

Joshua D. Guggenheimer

Joshua D. Guggenheimer is an associate professor and program director for Exercise Sciences at St. Catherine University.

Katherine A. Campbell

Katherine A. Campbell is an assistant professor of Interprofessional Education at St. Catherine University.