Ways in which educational structures can initiate and facilitate older learners' self-directed learning projects are described in this study. The research was guided by questions related to the ways that educational organizations can facilitate the learning process for older learners. This study involved two distinct phases of research. In the first phase, a survey was administered to approximately 100 older learners at four organizations for senior citizens; the four organizations were Hillcrest Center for 55+, Golden Learning Opportunities and Workshop, Tulsa Senior Services, and Retired Senior Volunteer Program. The survey enabled the researcher to identify the 10 most frequented sites for gathering information related to the learning projects of senior citizens in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The survey respondents were volunteer participants from classes, social occasions, and other learning opportunities offered by the organizations. The survey produced three sites where older learners pursued learning activities. Phase two involved ethnographic techniques in order to identify and describe at each three sites specific educational structures that facilitated older learners' self-directed learning projects. The descriptions from each of the identified sites involved three data-collection techniques. The data-collection techniques used included interviews, observation, and artifact collection. The focus of this phase was to describe the educational structures that facilitated the development of learning projects endemic to each site as identified by the older learners. Notes taken during interviews and observations were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Interviews were also transcribed. The transcripts were transferred to a conceptually clustered matrix for each site. Analyses of the administrator interviews, participant interviews, educational opportunity observations, and artifact collection at each site revealed patterns and trends that represent the educational structures that appeal to older learners as they pursue learning projects. The findings indicate that four patterns or trends were common to each site. These four patterns included accessible materials, service-minded staff, entertainment, and teacher-directed learning style.

This ethnographic, descriptive case study is concerned with an analysis of the Elderhostel experience at one specific university. Questionnaires, evaluation documents, observations, phototographs, and interviews were used in this study to describe the 1988 Elderhostel experience at North Texas State University. Thirty-three persons were initially asked to participate in this study. Twenty-nine agreed and actually completed the questionnaires, and 26 completed the program evaluation. The study is organized and presented in the following manner: Chapter I introduces the study. Chapter II presents a review of related literature addressing those studies directly concerned with the Elderhostel experience, those addressing motivational reasons for participation in adult education, and those dealing with learning abilities, interests, and goals of the elderly in general. Chapter III includes the methods and procedures used to collect and analyze the data. Chapter IV presents the descriptive and statistical analysis of the data, and Chapter V includes the summary, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations that were derived from the analysis. Major findings of this study include a description of the organization and administration of the program, a description of the educational and co-curricular activities offered and how they were evaluated by the participants, and demographic and motivational data of the participants involved. The "average" participant can be described as white, married, female, retired, white-collar background, from an urban community, a mean age of 70, a mean educational level of 16.5 years, and an income in excess of $20,000 annually. The most frequent reason given for attending Elderhostel was "program content," and for attending North Texas State University, the "International Focus." On the basis of the findings of this study it can be concluded that the characteristics of older adults most likely to enroll in educational programs can be identified; the North Texas State University Elderhostel program is meeting the needs and interests of its participants; and the primary motivators for attending Elderhostel are instrumental in nature.

Digitization of data offers more opportunities for future health and medicine care due to the availability of information technology in our everyday lives. Several studies have provided us with insights in designing persuasive eHealth services, but only a few studies have investigated the design of a persuasive eHealth application by using presently available smartphones and while including the target group. By pursuing an iterative design process, three smartphone application prototypes were created and tested with senior citizens by using cognitive walkthroughs, use case scenarios and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the target group involvement had positive influences on the design of the prototypes, with user insights uncovering setbacks and opportunities in the design. Thus, the study presents a set of primary characteristics for designing a persuasive eHealth application to be usable with smartphones and how the iterative design process with the involvement of senior citizens shaped the design.

No description available.

The emergency response readiness of the public health and emergency management systems have become increasingly important topics for research, development and action in the United States. Senior citizens represent a large and growing population group in the United States. Older persons are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable during disasters because they are more likely to have chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and sensory, physical and cognitive disabilities than those of younger ages. Elderly health and safety have become the responsibility of the elderly themselves, of the community in which they live, and the various agencies and organizations charged with preparedness planning. The goal of this study was to assess the emergency operations plans (EOPs) of emergency relief agencies and organizations in the Atlanta area for the provision of emergency relief services utilized by senior citizens as a special needs population. The research and analysis performed was completed in two steps: a review of collected disaster and emergency operations plans (EOPs) and standard operating procedures (SOPs), and a qualitative analysis of a survey submitted to the agencies. Although many EOPs and SOPs referred to emergency relief services for special needs populations, the plans were not functional and did not fully outline the ‘who, what, when, where and how” to provide disaster relief services. Public health agencies must endeavor to better address the disaster related needs of elderly persons who have physical disabilities, special medical needs and communication disabilities. Disaster preparedness plans must ensure the availability of all items necessary to control and prevent complications related to chronic diseases, prevent acute events and promote functionality and independence.

The diploma thesis analyses education needs of senior citizens in one chosen geographical region, with emphasis on their motivation for further education. The theoretical part explains the basic concepts of geragogy and related areas. The empirical part of this thesis analyses educational needs of senior citizens by means of questionnaires and a controlled interview with a further education provider. KEYWORDS old age, education of senior citizens, motivation, senior citizens, needs, geragogy

abstract: ABSTRACT The early desire for and the pursuit of literacy are often mentioned in the teeming volumes devoted to African-American history. However, stories, facts, and figures about the acquisition of numeracy by African Americans have not been equally documented. The focus of this study was to search for the third R, this is the numeracy and mathematics experiences of African Americans who were born in, and before, 1933. The investigation of this generational cadre was pursued in order to develop oral histories and narratives going back to the early 1900s. This study examined formal and informal education and other relevant mathematics-related, lived experiences of unacknowledged and unheralded African Americans, as opposed to the American anomalies of African descent who are most often acknowledged, such as the Benjamin Bannekers, the George Washington Carvers, and other notables. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the use of a survey and interviews. Quantitative results and qualitative findings were blended to present a nuanced perspective of African Americans learning mathematics during a period of Jim Crow, segregation, and discrimination. Their hopes, their fears, their challenges, their aspirations, their successes, and their failures are all tangential to their overall goal of seeking education, including mathematics education, in the early twentieth century. Both formal and informal experiences revealed a picture of life during those times to further enhance the literature regarding the mathematics experiences of African Americans. Key words: Black students, historical, senior citizens, mathematics education, oral history, narrative, narrative inquiry, socio-cultural theory, Jim Crow / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

This research investigated banner ads on the World Wide Web, specifically the types of messages used in those ads and the effectiveness of the ads as seen by their intended audience. The focus was on health-related banner advertisements targeting senior citizens. The study first sought to determine the frequency of appearance of those ads when classified into categories of compliance-gaining tactics provided by research scholars. Second, the study explored the relative perceived effectiveness among those categories. Two graduate students from a Central Texas university sorted text messages into predetermined compliance-gaining categories. Chi square tests looked for significant differences in the frequencies of banner ads in each category. Forty-five senior citizens from the Central Texas area completed surveys regarding the perceived effectiveness of a randomly ordered, randomly selected set of categorized banner ads. A repeated measures test attempted to determine whether some compliance-gaining strategies used in health-related banner ads were perceived as more effective than others. The hypothesis stated that there would be differences in frequencies of compliance-gaining strategies used among the compliance-gaining categories in health-related banner ads for senior citizens. The hypothesis was supported. The research question asked if some categories of compliance-gaining strategies used in health-related banner ads were perceived as more effective than others by senior citizens. There was no evidence that senior citizens perceived any compliance-gaining category as being more effective than any other. However, post hoc analyses revealed trends in the types of compliance-gaining messages senior citizens perceived as more effective. These trends provide a basis for directional predictions in future studies.

Att gå från arbetslivet till pension innefattar en av människans största omställningar i livskedet. Det sker idag en stor ökning av den äldre befolkningen i Sverige och därmed även en ökning av andelen pensionärer. Av den anledningen så finns det ett stort intresse av att studera de bidragande faktorerna till en ökad hälsa hos den äldre befolkningen. Detta påvisar också vikten av att öka förståelsen och medvetenheten kring hur pensionärer hanterar den närmsta tiden efter övergången från arbete till pension. Det är därför av betydelse ur ett hälsopedagogiskt perspektiv att belysa hur pensionärer hanterar möjligheter och utmaningar för att kunna uppnå livskvalité i vardagen. Denna studie utgår från en kvalitativ ansats bestående av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och ger indikationer om betydelsefulla faktorer som kan bidra till pensionärernas hantering av den närmsta tiden efter övergången. Slutsatsen visar på några av de mest återkommande faktorer som bidrar till ett gott åldrande samt hur yttre faktorer såsom pensionärsorganisationer kan fungera som verktyg för att tillgodose ett hälsosamt pensionärsliv. / The transition from employment to retirement is one of the biggest changes in the human life. There is an ongoing increase in the elderly population in Sweden and thereby an increase of senior citizens. Due to that reason there is a great interest in studying the contributing factors to increased health in the elderly population. The situation also shows the importance of increasing the understanding and awareness concerning the senior citizens ways of coping with the time shortly after retirement. From a health and pedagogical perspective there is a purpose of highlighting how the senior citizens are coping with the challenges and possibilities to be able to achieve quality of life. This study emerges from a qualitative approach consisting of ten semi-structured interviews as a data collection method. Based on a qualitative content analysis the result has been analyzed and gives indicators that significant factors can contribute to the coping of the time period after retirement by the senior citizens. The conclusion shows some of the most reoccurring factors can contribute to aging well and how external factors like retirement unions can serve as a tool to meet a healthy retirement life.

No description available.