Course Objectives

MODULE 1
Ageing and living conditions of the elderly - 10 ECTS

Module 1 provides a general introduction to ageing and various aspects of living conditions of the elderly. The teaching in module 1 will take place during the first two weekly meetings in semester 1.

Aims:
The students will be expected to acquire insight into different views of ageing and the elderly. These views will involve, for example, the significance of social progress and research, the importance of history, cultural concepts, gender and stages of life. The students will also gain an understanding of the various cultural, biological and physiological theories on ageing with respect to the body, including the genetic background for ageing and illness. They will also learn about theories on the cognitive, emotional and social dimensions of ageing and the tradition for understanding coping as characteristic in recent psychological interpretations of ageing. Students will also gain an understanding of prognoses related to demographic and economic conditions with regard to ageing, and ageing as a cultural and social phenomenon related to changing roles, networks, families and living conditions. In this way, students will establish a foundation for improving their competence in planning and implementing initiatives for the elderly, based on the complex limitations and possibilities associated with ageing, and will be better prepared to meet challenges related to the organisation, priorities and quality of health and social services. This competence shall be based on humanistic principles.

MODULE 2
Ethics and relationship skills– 5 ECTS

Module 2 addresses the relationship between the helper and the elderly person. The theoretical lessons in module 2 will occur during the final weekly meeting of the 1st semester.

Aims:
Students will gain insight into various conditions which govern relationships between the elderly and those who help them. Students will increase their awareness of the challenges which they will face when they must interact with a sick elderly person while protecting the patient’s right to influence his/her own situation. Students will thus develop an understanding which will, in turn, allow them to make decisions in which elderly people are treated as responsible, free and unique individuals who must be handled with respect.

Course Description

MODULE 1
Ageing and living conditions of the elderly

• The evolution of the welfare state
• Various professional approaches and humanism in caring for the elderly
• Research and professional advances in geriatric care
• Ageing and the elderly viewed in a socio-cultural and historical perspective
• Views on death in a historical and multicultural perspective
• Theories on ageing
• Ageing seen as a stage in life
• Knowledge of differences among the generations
• Gender and ageing
• Coping and the psychology of ageing
• Social aspects of ageing
• Roles, changing roles and social networks

MODULE 2
Ethics and relationship skills

• Views on illness, frailty and old-age
• A humanistic, as opposed to a technocratic, view of the individual.
• Important existential, relational and ethical concepts
• Relational skills
• Autonomy and dependency
• Power
• Use of restraint

Assessment Methods

987MOD12
Module 1- 2: Ethical and Relational Perspectives on the Living Conditions of the Elderly

During the autumn of the first year of study, students will work on an individual semester assignment related to the content of modules 1 and 2. The assignment will be 2000 words in length, and will be assigned a letter grade.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean