Ithaca College Gerontology Institute
Volume 7 Number 2 Spring 2001

The Ithaca College Gerontology Institute newsletter is designed to keep the campus and community informed of institute activities and other events related to the field of gerontology.
Our address is ICGI Newsletter, Ithaca College, 407 Center for Health Sciences, Ithaca, NY 14850; phone (607) 274-1965; www.ithaca.edu/aging.
Notes from the Director
Welcome to our spring newsletter! This issue includes the usual updates on institute activities with particular emphasis on our May 24 conference, Aging and Creativity: Enhancing Life Quality through the Arts. A new look at findings from the Pathways to Life Quality study is also reported. I am particularly pleased to report that we have received $240,000 to expand our Gerontology Infusion in the Social Studies Curriculum project to serve school districts outside Ithaca. Finally, I invite you to visit our recently updated website at www.ithaca.edu/aging. I would like to extend sincere thanks to Penny Bianconi and several students for their contributions to that effort. I hope you have an enjoyable and productive spring.
John A. Krout, Director

NEWS FLASH! Proposals by Ithaca College for B.A. and B.S. degrees in gerontology approved by the New York State Education Department.

Ithaca College/Longview Partnership Receives National Recognition

In November 2000 the cooperative program of Ithaca College, Longview, Tompkins Community Action Head Start, and the Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School-Partners in Intergenerational Living and Learning-received an honorable mention in the 2000 Mutual of America Community Partnership Award competition, with an award of $10,000 for Ithacare. Each year the Mutual of America Foundation, a subsidiary of the Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, sponsors this award to recognize outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private, or social sector leaders. The foundation recognized the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, the Head Start program, and the Clune Montessori School partners. John Krout, ICGI director, accepted a certificate honoring the College for setting "an outstanding example of leadership in the facilitation of partnerships between public, private, and social sector organizations to build better communities for the future." "What's significant about this honor is that it is recognition on a national scale," says Krout. "It shows that our intergenerational program with Longview is at the forefront of enhancing the lives of both college students and older adults through academic and experiential learning activities."

Public School Project Expands
As part of the ICGI project to present information about aging in the public school curriculum, a two-week gerontology unit has become part of the required Participation in Government course for graduating Ithaca High School seniors. Some class members toured Longview and reported back on programs, issues, and general observations. Interest in the program is expanding beyond Ithaca. Working with Zenon Wasyliw, assistant professor of history, on the public school project is Elliott-John Butt, an Ithaca College student intern and student teacher in social studies. Butt has taught a two-week gerontology unit at Lansing High School in collaboration with his cooperating teacher, Mitch Addy. Based on the success of the three-year public school project, Ithaca College has received an additional $240,000 grant from an anonymous donor to field-test lessons in other Tompkins County school districts.
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Interdisciplinary Team Training Program Boosts Rural Opportunities

The Allied Health Geriatric Inter-disciplinary Team Training (AHGITT) program continues to develop educational and training opportunities for students and practitioners wishing to pursue employment in rural areas of New York State. • Ten students completed the Rural Interdisciplinary Team Training course offered in fall 2000. They learned the unique nature of interdisciplinary assessment and treatment for older people in rural areas. • The case study used in the course is being developed into a Web learning module that presents a variety of assessment tools and treatment options used in the rural team treatment process. Students and practitioners will use the module, to be posted on the AHGITT website, as members of a virtual assessment team charged with completing an interdisciplinary assessment and determining treatment options available in a rural area. • Training on interdisciplinary teams is now offered to student placement sites. Training is tailored to meet the needs of the individual site. Student placement sites interested in such a program can contact Christine Decker in the AHGITT program at 607-274-7007. • The AHGITT website is developing a service that will post allied health job openings for rural health agencies at no charge. To use this service, please e-mail ad copy, including the agency's contact information, to decker@ithaca.edu. Positions will be posted until filled.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

From student fieldwork to a profession in the gerontology field, Elyse Adelstein builds on relationships. In 1996 Elyse Adelstein of Sharon, Massachusetts, entered Ithaca College as a health service administration major with a minor in gerontology. During her freshman year she worked at Ithacare as part of her fieldwork requirements for Introduction to Gerontology and her course in Leisure and Aging. After completing her fieldwork, Adelstein continued to visit residents at Ithacare. When Ithacare moved to South Hill, she kept up her active ties, organizing such events as holiday dances and socials at Longview. During her junior year, in 1998-99, Adelstein was elected treasurer of the Aging and Gerontological Education Society (AGES), an IC student club; in her senior year, she served as vice president. The same year, she was selected to serve as the student representative to the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute Faculty Advisory Committee. She also made a presentation at the spring 2000 State Society on Aging student conference on gerontology research and internships. Adelstein graduated from IC in May 2000. In July 2000 she was hired as the health information coordinator at Lasell Village, a new continuing-care retirement community on the campus of Lasell College in Auburndale, Massachusetts. There Adelstein participated in the survey process for the skilled nursing unit and helped develop policies and procedures for the organization. She worked closely with the director of health care services and helped organize the wellness center. Adelstein found that involvement in a start-up project meant wearing many hats. She also found that her opinion counted every step of the way. Last December the executive director asked her to work on improving the activities component of the skilled nursing floor. Her position soon evolved to that of activities coordinator, responsible for all activities, calendars, and documentation for the skilled nursing unit. She also organizes student and community volunteers. Less than a year since her graduation, Adelstein has leveraged her Ithaca College education into career opportunity and advancement. Her advice for current gerontology students? "Take advantage of the many extracurricular activities and the direct experience with the elderly that are available to you at IC."

FLGEC Honors Home Health Aides

On January 25 the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center (FLGEC) project cosponsored the Home Health Care Aide Recognition Celebration of the Health Planning Council of Tompkins County. The event honored home health care aides with a luncheon, keynote address, service awards, door prizes, and entertainment by a theater improvisation group. Rhoda Meador, FLGEC project staff member from Cornell University, presented the keynote speech, "Enhancing Communication with Patients and Families." Her talk included techniques to help frontline workers improve listening skills as well as verbal and nonverbal communication, and ways to reduce stress. Elaine Gebell, FLGEC staff member from Ithaca College, introduced Meador and announced other activities of the FLGEC. The event was attended by 150 home health aides, their guests, and professionals in health and aging services.

Longview Residents Learn to 'Act Their Age'

Kate-Michaela Mullen is a freshman at Ithaca College with a double major in drama and psychology. She teaches a weekly acting class at Longview called Act Your Age on Tuesday afternoons, attended by an average of 15 Longview residents. As a child in Scranton, Mullen says, she spent a great deal of time with elderly neighbors. When she moved to Ithaca, she missed the company of older adults. To fill the void, she volunteered to offer her acting class at Longview. Class exercises-such as donning an outrageous hat and acting the role of someone who would wear it-have enabled Mullen to discover some notable talent among the residents-at least two of whom were actresses in the past. Above all else, Mullen wants to be an actress on stage or screen, but she has a fallback plan. With arts therapy modalities gaining credibility and acceptance in the health care arena, Mullen is now looking toward future studies in drama therapy at New York University.

Totten Earning Certificate in Gerontology While Forging New Career

In May 2001 Deborah Totten will receive her certificate in gerontology from Ithaca College. It's another landmark for Deborah as she realizes her goal of working with and for the elderly. She has already entered her new career, one she first began to envision some years ago while caring for a mother-in-law with Parkinson's disease. By the summer of 1999, Totten had decided to resign from her 16-year position as a computer programmer with IBM in Binghamton, but she wasn't sure what her next phase in life would be. Visiting the Ithaca College website, she read about the Gerontology Institute and its certificate in gerontology. The program's multidisciplinary coursework and fieldwork experience looked promising. Moreover, as a certificate program, it offered a core of focused courses that appealed to her educational and career goals. Once she enrolled, Totten found her courses "immensely interesting and academically challenging," she says. A problem solver by nature, she was pleased with the practical, rather than theoretical, approach at ICGI. She began to sense the possibilities for improving the current system of care for the aged, and was exhilarated by a rekindled sense of personal growth. Somewhat apprehensive at first as an older student, Totten found that her worries didn't linger. "Both students and professors," she says, "treated me as an equal." Attending classes only Tuesdays and Thursdays her first semester, she was able to volunteer at the Broome County Office for Aging in Binghamton and teach an introductory computer class for older adults. "I'm certain that my volunteer work enhanced my entire learning experience and paved the way for my new career," she says. For her spring 2000 fieldwork, she chose Alterra and worked with residents of both the assisted living and memory care units. "I gained a lot from that experience," she says, "and I continue to draw on it in my work." During her last semester at Ithaca College, Totten heard through her contacts at the Office for Aging about a part-time job with Action for Older Persons. The new employee would open a computer lab and begin teaching computer skills to older adults. After scrambling to put together a résumé, Totten was offered an interview and then the job. She eagerly accepted it, worked on networking the computers, and held the lab's first computer class in October 2000. In January 2001 she went full-time as a computer education specialist and developer of a new peer-based volunteer program addressing end-of-life issues. Totten says, "Through the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, I've been able to successfully marry my background in the field of computers with my interest in working with older adults. The result is a job I love and find incredibly rewarding. I owe special thanks to my professors at Ithaca for providing me with stimulating and challenging coursework that I enjoyed thoroughly, and to my fellow students, who impressed me with their maturity and acceptance. I also owe heartfelt thanks to Pamela Mayberry, my adviser, who expedited the process and worked so hard to make my acceptance into the program a reality in the fall of 1999 when my life was about to change forever.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Susan Durnford

Susan Durnford, clinical instructor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Ithaca College, is an original member of the Gerontology Institute's Faculty Advisory Committee and has delivered a number of presentations for the Gerontology Institute's workshop series. A firm believer in interdisciplinary collaboration, she most recently partnered with Linda Heyne, Department of Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Services, on a new project at Longview in the spring of 2000. Students from their departments worked together on "leisure communication" activities. Each student team assessed the leisure interests, abilities, needs, and goals of two residents, as well as communication patterns, skills, and needs. They then implemented leisure programs for the residents and throughout the semester documented progress and evaluated outcomes. Durnford has presented at conferences of the State Society on Aging and the Gerontology Society of America. She participated in the frontline worker series of the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center with a presentation titled "Let's Talk," which addressed common causes of communication difficulties for the older population and provided helpful communication strategies. She also coauthored a chapter titled "Collaborative Services: Working Together in the Aging Network," in the textbook Aging and Communication for Clinicians by Clinicians with John A. Krout, ICGI director, and Carol S. Crichley, now retired from the College's Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. Besides teaching the Communication Disorders in the Aging Population course, Durnford spends up to 16 hours a week visiting student practicum sites such as the Center for Life Skills, Oak Hill Manor, and Longview. As students develop and implement lesson plans for clients, she observes the therapy and offers feedback. Durnford received her bachelor's degree from Adams State College in Denver, Colorado, and her master's degree from Colorado State University in 1984 in speech-language pathology and audiology. She moved to Ithaca with her husband, Tim, in 1991 while he was completing his graduate work at Cornell University.They now have two children-Kathryn, 11, and Phillip, 9. As a speech-language pathologist, what message does Durnford have for her students? "Don't take life too seriously. It's OK to make mistakes, because you can learn from them. Learn and grow."

Pathways to Life Quality Study

One of the goals of the ongoing Pathways to Life Quality study by Ithaca College and Cornell University students is to investigate why older adults decide to move. Data on the 40 people who relocated between interviews suggests that women and men seek different benefits in housing. The study also looks at how participants' leisure changes over time. Among the 727 people who have been interviewed twice, there has been a decline in many common leisure activities and an increase in computer use (www.pathwayslifequality.org).