Walking in the Shoes of Elders

August 24, 2009 8:07 AM

Students at the USC Davis School of Gerontology celebrated the new academic year by “becoming senior citizens” on Aug. 21 thanks to Trading Ages, an interactive senior sensitivity training program sponsored by SCAN Health Plan.

Approximately 60 students of various ages and academic levels were given the opportunity to “walk in the shoes of a senior” through a series of hands-on exercises and sensory perception activities.

“This was an invaluable opportunity for students to experience the common physical and emotional challenges that are a part of the aging process,” said Maria Henke, assistant dean at the USC Davis School. “We are proud of the solid training ground we provide to future gerontologists and given SCAN Health Plan’s strong background in serving and meeting the needs of seniors, this was an ideal pairing.”

To mimic the difficulties experienced with arthritis, program participants were asked to button their shirts or open medication bottles wearing heavy gloves. Volunteers also put popcorn in their shoes and walked around to simulate the feeling of painful joints in the feet. Others strapped their arm to their side to feel how limiting it can be to deal with the effects of a stroke.

Depriving participants of the level of hearing and sight they have enjoyed their entire lives was also a critical part of the program. Hearing tests were performed on people wearing earplugs to simulate loss of hearing. Perhaps most enduring were the special glasses that severely limited vision in order to approximate many of the visual challenges and disorders that accompany aging.

“It was illuminating to experience firsthand the vision loss that comes with age. I have worn glasses since I was 10, but I now realize I would have a hard time enduring the effects of cataracts or macular degeneration,” said Zachary Gassoumis, a third year Ph.D. student.

Sherry Stanislaw, the creator of the Trading Ages program and SCAN’s senior vice president, said participants are often surprised by how they react to certain physical limitations that are mimicked during the program.

“With our society rapidly aging, this type of education across all ages and industries is more important than ever,” Stanislaw said. “As a health plan focused exclusively on the needs of seniors, SCAN is in a unique position to help people understand more about the aging process.”

TAGS: aging

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