Center for Excellence in Aging and Health & School of Social Work.
Center for Excellence in Collaborative Education & School of Social Work.
Gerontol Geriatr Educ. 2022 Jan-Mar;43(1):18-33. doi: 10.1080/02701960.2021.1956489. Epub 2021 Aug 4.
Social isolation and loneliness present significant challenges for the mental and physical health of older adults. Social distancing, mask wearing, and other precautions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic add to these challenges. This article details a telecollaborative service-learning project to engage older adults online and provide applied experiences for students. From March through October 2020, 54 students from Social Work (Master, Bachelor), the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM; DO), and Occupational Therapy (Master) provided telephone support and Zoom™ based programming for older adults affiliated with the University of New England. Creative offerings were piloted weekly and debriefed on Friday afternoons in the spring, leading to more structured 8-week schedules in summer and fall. Peer-to-peer support took place between older adults with experience in video meetings and those willing to learn. Bidirectional and intergenerational benefits were noted as older adults and students navigated the exigencies of the pandemic and learned important lessons with and from each other to advance knowledge and improve quality of life.
社会隔离和孤独给老年人的身心健康带来了重大挑战。由于 COVID-19 大流行，需要保持社交距离、戴口罩和采取其他预防措施，这使得这些挑战更加严峻。本文详细介绍了一项远程协作服务学习项目，旨在通过在线方式让老年人参与进来，并为学生提供实践经验。2020 年 3 月至 10 月，来自社会工作（硕士、本科）、骨科医学院（DO）和职业治疗（硕士）的 54 名学生为与新英格兰大学有关联的老年人提供电话支持和基于 Zoom 的编程服务。创意服务每周进行试点，并在春季周五下午进行汇报，随后在夏季和秋季制定了更具结构性的 8 周计划。在有视频会议经验的老年人和愿意学习的老年人之间开展了同伴支持。老年人和学生在应对大流行的紧急情况时，相互学习，相互受益，增进了知识，提高了生活质量。
