An Agency Guide to Community Learning in Aging

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An Agency Guide to Community Learning in Aging
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Community Learning in Aging

• Overview of volunteering, service learning, and
  internships
• Benefits of working with students
• Steps to establishing a program
• How to work effectively with students
• Additional resources

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Volunteering overview

• Volunteers are seeking experience and/or personal
  or moral fulfillment
• Time commitment may vary from 1 to 40 hours per
  week
• Ongoing or one-time experience
• No payment or school credit
• Projects may include reading to older adults,
  teaching a course, or recording oral histories

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Service learning overview

• Similar to volunteering, but also promotes
  academic and/or professional development
• Direct tie-in with school curriculum
• Usually 3 to 5 hours per week for about 15 weeks
• Paid or unpaid
• Credit or no credit
• Projects could include redesigning work space,
  planning a fundraiser, or facilitating a field
  trip for older adults

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Internship overview

• Similar to, but more intense than service
  learning
• Usually 20 to 40 hours per week for a minimum of
  one semester
• Close university supervision can be expected
• Paid or unpaid
• Usually for school credit and/or professional
  development
• At this point, most internship candidates are
  nursing, social work, or kinesiology students

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Benefits of hosting students

• Fresh perspective
• Energetic attitude
• Professional development students and agency
• Screen potential employees
• Attract employees to the field of aging
• Cost-effective

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Challenges of hosting students

• Balancing the needs of agency, students, and
  university
• Gaining internal buy-in
• Accommodating busy student schedules
• Making the most of limited student hours
• Navigating the bureaucracy of the university
  system

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Steps to creating an effective program

• Set realistic goals
• Develop a plan
• Recruit students
• Host students
• Ongoing maintenance

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Set realistic goals

• Project identification
• Benefits to agency
• Student limits (capabilities and time)
• Timeframe for establishing program
• Student learning opportunities

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Develop a plan

• On-site supervisor
• Identify
• Define commitment
• Assign tasks
• Tactical realities
• Work space
• Parking
• Coats and backpacks

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Develop a plan (continued)

• Define service learner tasks
• Specific tasks
• Balance agency, university, and student needs
• Provide feedback
• Feedback is a two-way street
• What will be discussed?
• How will it be discussed (in-person, e-mail,
  etc.)
• How often, and for how long each week?

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Develop a plan (continued)

• Paid vs. unpaid
• Student grade level (graduate, upper or lower
  classman)
• Academic backgrounds/majors
• Specific colleges and universities

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Recruit students

• Start early at least three months in advance
• Academic personnel
• Internship postings print and internet
• Networking
• Other forms of marketing

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Prepare to host students

• First day training/orientation
• Emergency contact information
• Risk-management forms (vary by department)
• On-site supervision
• Establish and maintain open lines of
  communication
• HIPAA regulations

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Ongoing maintenance

• Communicate goals with
• Staff
• Students
• University
• Evaluate progress of agency and students
• Demonstrate a link between accomplishments and
  initial goals

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Additional resources

• Recruitment resources
• Print
• Internet
• UW-Milwaukee staff and faculty
• More about service learning
• Internet

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Quotes about working with students

• Give service a chance. If you think I dont
  have the time, just try it. If I hadnt been
  involved in service learning, Im not so sure Id
  be as involved in the community as I am now. It
  was my first step.
• Older adults are JUST like us. They were young
  too and did all the same dirty things we do.
• The key to the program was the length of time
  students came. By coming just a few hours a week
  for a couple of months, a relationship was able
  to built, instead of just volunteering coming
  and going quickly.

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Forms and templates

• Plan and goal sheet
• Recruitment template
• UWM Academic degree programs
• Additional resources
• Student evaluations (for agency)
• Agency evaluations (for students)
• Service learning agreement (sample)
• Additional service learning resources

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Special thanks to

• Family House, Inc.
• The Faye McBeath Foundation
• Indian Council of the Elderly
• Luther Manor
• Milwaukee Aging Consortium
• Milwaukee Area College Internship Consortium
• Milwaukee County Older Adult Fitness Program
• St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care
• UWM Center on Age Community and Service
  Learning Institute
• Wisconsin Geriatric Education Center