‘Hearing the Real Stories about the Issues at Hand’: Politically Active Elders Engage Bachelor in Social Work (BSW) Students in Influencing Social Policy

Abstract

This article focuses on the successes and challenges experienced by a social work program offering experiential learning opportunities to bachelor in social work (BSW) students. As part of the BSW Experiential Learning (BEL) Program, policy students collaborated with politically active older adults to develop compelling letters to the editor of a newspaper and influential letters to state-level legislators concerning policies impacting older adults. Using a two-year quasi-experimental design, one section of the course paired students with older adults while the other section served as the control group. Although no significant differences were found in influencing student interest in working with older adults, students paired with older adults showed greater confidence in and learning of the content. Lessons learned from this experience and implications for future implementation will be detailed.

Keywords:

• Policy
• Older Adults
• Gerontology
• Experiential Learning

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation's BSW Experiential Learning (BEL) Program. The authors wish to thank the John A. Hartford Foundation, the National Gero-Ed Center, Dr Karen-Harper Dorton, former Chair of the WVU Division of Social Work and Linda Ferrise, WVU BSW Director. Most of all we would like to thank and acknowledge the exceptional older adults and students who participated in the activities.