Instructor:
Sarah Ruiz Ramon, Ph.D.

 

Previous decades of gerontological research have laid the foundation for understanding "normal aging" or aging of the majority. A major issue for future gerontological research and practice will be to explain the variability in the aging process and to understand the diversity or heterogeneity of the older population. This course is designed to provide an understanding of the diversity among aging individuals and subgroups.

Three key elements comprise a mandate for higher education to address diversity and aging. First, the ethnic minority older population of the United States has grown faster than the majority older population, and this trend can be expected to continue. Second, much of the research on aging has not focused on older women or minorities and their aging. Their experience of aging can be considerably different from that of men or majorities. Third, populations world wide are aging, and older people in various nations and cultures experience aging quite differently.

This diversity presents a challenge to communicating with older people, to designing and conducting research and services for them, and to maintaining their productivity and integration in the economy.

This course will assist students in understanding the complexity of variable related to the aging process. Ethnicity, gender, social class, and culture will be examined within the context of physical, mental, social, political, and financial aging.

The course will encourage active participation from students. At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the importance of understanding diversity among older people.
2. Describe differences in aging experience by race/ethnicity.
3. Describe the differences between men and women over the life span in adaptation to aging, family, employment, income and social programs.
4. Describe situations in which cultural sensitivity and competence in relating to older persons from a minority background is required.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of the differential patterns of health and illness in later life in relation to race/ethnicity, gender, and culture.
6. Describe the effects of current social policies and programs on various ethnic, gender, and cultural groups.
7. Describe the impact on the social, financial, and health aspects of those who speak a language other than English.
8. Describe future prospects on diversity in aging.