NSU Horizons Fall 2006

horizons 27 in Elder Law since the specialty was recognized in 1998. Experts say that is not enough to meet the growing demand. Caring for the needs of older Americans requires a cross- disciplinary collaboration, said Fran L. Tetunic, J.D., an associate professor in the Shepard Broad Law Center. Tetunic is working with Gagnon Blodgett and professors from the Fischler School of Education and the College of Osteopathic Medicine to develop a comprehensive program in elder law. “No one discipline has all the information and all the answers,” Tetunic said. “That is part of the beauty of working in a large academic community where we have so much knowledge to come together to educate others.” Elder law is “a huge field,” Tetunic said, “because it encompasses a great many areas that are also covered in other fields.” Elder law attorneys may face issues of abuse, age dis- crimination, or medical care. caring for the senior spirit Jacquelyn Dwoskin, Ph.D., of the Fischler School, is using an innovative gerontology minor for doctoral students to train education professionals to address the intellectual needs of active seniors. “I created a gerontology minor because demographically the Baby Boomers started turning 60 this past January,” Dwoskin said. “That particular group will be the healthiest and most diverse group of older adults in history.” Dwoskin, a licensed clinical social worker who operates a private practice in Palm Beach County and teaches several days a week at NSU, underscores the growing need for profes- sionals trained to deal with the older population. “Clearly the Baby Boomers, in particular, are unpredict- able in terms of what they want to be,” she said. “‘Old’ now has a different meaning. Mick Jagger is over 60! Older adults aren’t just consumers of products or of health care, but are concerned with questions such as ‘What is our potential as we get older? And what can we give back to our communities?’ It’s a huge untapped resource of knowledge. We need to discover what we might harvest from that.” Dwoskin is searching to create better pathways to connect older adults to their communities. Those who complete the gerontology minor may be administrators at community centers, education centers, or other similar facili- ties catering to older patrons. The program trains students to think about their own aging as well as that of the people they will work with. “Each course is designed [by looking] through the lens of ‘How do we create meaning as we grow older?’” Dwoskin said. “One of the classes focuses on the humanities in aging; another is concepts and controversies (conflict over Medicare and health care delivery); another is the psychology of aging, sociology of aging, biology of aging, or the ethnicity or cultural differences,” and so on. Dwoskin’s approach to educate the educators, like the law and medical tracks, reached beyond the NSU campus. Two of her projects, “La Riqueza de la Madurez/The Richness Found in Maturity: A Qualitative Study Utilizing Narrative Gerontology Techniques to Assess and Improve the Well-Being of Hispanic Elders in Broward County” and “Leaving a Legacy: Redefining Volunteerism for Older Adults in Broward County,” have received Broward County Quality of Life Grants. “I’ve also completed a grant that provides partnerships between our academic institu- tion and Broward County community agencies,” she said, adding she also recently re- ceived a grant to address concerns of older Spanish- speaking residents. All this, she said, should make aging in Florida a bit easier. “It is a good time to grow old,” Dwoskin said. n Lisa Bolivar is a writer in Tamarac, Florida. Michelle Gagnon Blodgett, Psy.D., Coordinator, Geriatric Clinical Services