News

Nurturing Respect
USC Andrus Gerontology Center Volunteers to be Featured in Forthcoming Book on Ageism

By Athan Bezaitis
                       
“Do wrinkles hurt?  Does someone have to feed you?  Why do old people smell funny? You’d be surprised at some of the things young people ask,” said Evelyn Washington, 72, a USC Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center Volunteer, who has been visiting fourth through 12th grade classrooms throughout Los Angeles for four years. 

Ms. Washington and her fellow Volunteers are part of a USC Andrus Gerontology Center project that began in 1991 entitled Ageism in Schools.  Ageism is a term that is used to describe negative stereotypes and prejudices towards the elderly.  Like racism or sexism, it is a learned behavior that is formed in early childhood development and – sadly – still very much alive in American society. 

The Ageism initiative was an effort to help build a bridge across the generation gap between young and old.  Over the years, the Volunteers – some of whom have passed on – entered classrooms in which teachers prepared students by asking questions such as “What do you think you’ll be like when you’re 65?” and “What does the word ‘old’ mean to you?”  After discussing some of the responses, the Volunteers led discussions, opened a forum for questions and collected written accounts and illustrations discussing what the students learned.

Their findings are chronicled in the forthcoming book, Nurturing Respect, co-authored by Dr. Gerald Larue and Rachel Seymour.  It demonstrates positive and negative images that the Volunteers encountered, examines how they tackled the tough, personal questions – like those about personal hygiene and sex – and offers advice on how to incorporate positive perspectives on aging into the classroom and every day life.  It is published by Papier-Mâché and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com (ships July 31, 2006).

At the presentations, the students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in discussion.

“I wanted to develop a more accurate impression of aging in the minds of today’s youth, the decision makers of the future, whose legacy fifty years from now will have a powerful effect in an aged America, a country whose population will look a whole lot different than today,” said Dr. Larue. 

Research shows that by the year 2050, the population aged 65 and older will make up 15 percent of the world’s population.  Compare that to a mere seven percent in 2006.  In the United States alone, that population expects to be over 80 million.

As young people learned from the meetings with Volunteers, an older population is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, they were frequently surprised to realize that the lives of their elders could be so productive and vibrant. 

“Thank you for sharing your story with us.  I really enjoyed listening to it because I learned and also found out that I was wrong.  I thought it wasn’t worth growing old,” wrote student Heydi Vasquez.  Another student, known only as Dominique, wrote, “I learned that I shouldn’t take advantage of old people.  And old people are really cool once you learn about them.  They are not as boring as they make them in movies...”

“A lot of young people haven’t been around seniors,” Ms. Washington added.  “This is their opportunity to ask us any questions they want.”

Medical students at USC also benefit from the Volunteers' experience.

Adolescent students aren’t the only ones who have tapped into the into the Andrus Center’s Volunteers as a valuable resource.   Just ask the folks in the USC School of Theatre who have used them as extras in plays, or the students at the Keck School of Medicine’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences program, who have performed cognitive examinations on them.   The medical school, in fact, has used them for studies on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even experimental supplements such as testosterone. 

After meeting with the Volunteers, the medical students are told by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Dean Emeritus Edward Schneider, who is also a medical doctor, “If you’re going to be a physician, you’re going to be a geriatrician unless you’re in pediatrics or obstetrics.”

“This year’s crop of med students seemed to be much more mature than in years past,” chimed Henry Merkle, 73, at a recent Volunteer meeting.  Mr. Merkle is featured prominently in Nurturing Respect.

“That’s because they were third-years this time,” another Volunteer retorted.

“I got the sense the young girl in my study was terrified of me,” snapped Betty Sims, speaking of a psychological study in which an entire class of students and faculty sat behind a two way mirror while she was interviewed.

“I need to get into an Alzheimer’s study,” remarked Ms. Washington.  “Does anybody know of one?”

Bob Feindt, 79, served as the moderator of the weekly meeting, part of his responsibilities as monthly chair person.  In the previous week, he recommended children’s books such as The Prince by Antoine de Saint and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and read aloud – very loud – from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.  The next week he presented clips from Stephen Sondheim plays Westside Story and Into the Woods to name a few, in preparation for a weekend trip to USC’s rendition of Sondheim’s Company.

Mr. Feindt has been a member of the Volunteers for five years.  He learned about the organization from a girlfriend.  “She lasted about two meetings and then left,” he said.  “But I’ve been here ever since.”  Along with visiting high schools for the Ageism in Schools project, he has participated in studies for the economics department and the Keck School of Medicine.  “In my first year, I got into a double blind study on testosterone in senior men.  It didn’t do much for me, but I got a physical every three weeks worth thousands of dollars.”

Muriel Rothenberg learned how to use the Internet from a study that examined whether or not elderly people could effectively operate a computer mouse.  “My son had moved to Indonesia with his family, so I was the only one in the group to have someone to correspond with,” she said.  “We read my emails together.  Good thing my son didn’t say anything too personal.”

Jane Andersen, who has been with the organization for eight years, made a laundry list of “interesting and beneficial projects” she had been involved in, including “preparing ‘gift bags’ for gerontology students with snacks for final exam preparation.”

Return to main news page...

Young people learned from the meetings with Volunteers, discovering the productive and vibrant lives these elders live. 

LDS News Archives

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

Return to Current News