abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

吳榮昌. / "1999年12月" / 論文 (哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2000. / 參考文獻 (leaves 156-168) / 附中英文摘要. / "1999 nian 12 yue" / Wu Rongchang. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2000. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 156-168) / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / 鳴謝 --- p.i / 論文摘要 --- p.ii / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻硏究 --- p.11 / Chapter 第三章 --- 硏究方法 --- p.43 / Chapter 第四章 --- 理論架構 --- p.55 / Chapter 第五章 --- 香港特區老人教育實施現況 --- p.70 / Chapter 第六章 --- 老人教育在院舍中的實施´ؤ´ؤ以一所護理安老院爲例… --- p.83 / Chapter 第七章 --- 社區老人教育新嘗試´ؤ´ؤ耆英進修學院 --- p.103 / Chapter 第八章 --- 結論與建議 --- p.109 / 附錄一：老人大學1994及1996年度課程簡介 --- p.115 / 附錄二：老人大學「院長的話」 --- p.121 / 附錄三：「老人大學」1994及1996年度學生心聲 --- p.124 / 附錄四：「老人大學」1994及1996年度上課及活動時間表 --- p.127 / 附錄五：耆英進修學院簡章 --- p.131 / 附錄六：耆英進修學院課程資料一覽表 --- p.134 / 附錄七：耆英進修學院「報名須知」、「學生須知」及地址一覽 --- p.146 / 附錄八：耆英進修學院《學生手冊》 --- p.150 / 附錄九：耆英進修學院宣傳海報 --- p.155 / 參考書目 --- p.156

The study examined the congruence of educational programmer expectations and motivations of older adults, over the age of 60 years, for this group to pursue educational (non-credit) experiences in later life. The major purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between what the educational programmers perceived of as the motivations of the older adults and the self-reported choices of this same group. The two survey samples for the study consisted of 249 institutions of higher education in the United States and an equal number of former ELDERHOSTEL participants. Each of the fifty states was represented by a minimum of four institutions and four older adults. In states with large numbers of institutions or a large senior population, a 5% sample was drawn. The educational institutions were selected on the basis of a replication of a 1982 survey in which the author participated. Data was collected by first class mail survey. The sample consisted of 193 usable responses from institutions of higher education and 208 former ELDERHOSTEL participant surveys that were usable for 78% and 84% response rates, respectively. The instrument used in the survey was developed from a combination of Bova's and Covey's studies on older adults' participation in higher education. It consisted of 20 randomly arranged course offerings from the ELDERHOSTEL catalogs. Educational programmers and former participants in the ELDERHOSTEL program were requested to rank order the courses in order of preference of student or personal choices. Selections were assigned a weighted average value based upon Harris and Associates "Concerns of Senior Adults" poll and a composite developed by the author of Stated Motivations and Subject Matter desired by Older Adults participating in Education over the past 18 years. Findings revealed low congruence between programmer expectations and participant motivations when the data were compared as an aggregate. The study concluded that generally there is a lack of congruence between educational programmer expectations and senior adult motivations concerning the pursuit of educational experiences in later life.

This exploratory study identified 18 factors influencing the choice of an educational-travel program and refined a typology of the older adult educational-travel participant. A mail questionnaire queried 963 Canadian and American participants, aged 45 to 92 years, who had enrolled in a fall 1997 Elderhostel Canada program, but not yet attended. The number of useable surveys was 811, representing an 84.2% rate of return. The analysis employed descriptive statistics, correlation, factor analysis, step-wise regression analysis, analysis of variance, and content analysis. / Five participant types were identified in this study: the Explorer, Activity-Oriented, Content-Committed, Convenience-Oriented, and Opportunist. Sixty-three percent of the population could be assigned to one of these categories; 22% were assigned to a combination of two categories; and 15% of the study population did not fit this typology. The two dominant participant types were the Activity-Oriented and the Explorer. / This study revealed 18 factors that influence the program choice of older adult educational-travel participants: Social, Comfort, Location, Attend alone, Attend Accompanied, Activity, Information, Cost, Program, Personal Limitations, Escape, Travel, Organizational Attributes, Accessibility, Previous Experience, Dates, Seasonal Influence, and Work. Using step-wise regression analysis, the program choice factors that best discriminated the various participant types were the Activity, Program, Location, Personal Limitations, Accessibility, and Organizational Attributes factors. An analysis of the mean scores revealed that six factors had the greatest influence on program choice: Organizational Attributes, Location, Program, Attending Accompanied, Social and Comfort.

This qualitative study explores how older adults, who are retired or contemplating retirement, make choices regarding their non-formal educational experiences. This national study collected data from 154 Elderhostel participants, aged 42 to 85 and, consistent with Moustaka's five phases of phenomenological analysis, triangulated the data from 17 focus groups, 10 in-depth interviews, and a demographic questionnaire. / The choice of Elderhostel as an educational venue for learning, and the specific course selection, were found to be influenced by 14 factors: location, travel, program, course content, accommodations, cost, dates, negotiation with travel partner, social, sites, personal requirements, escape, information, and the policies, philosophy and program requirements of Elderhostel. A participant typology emerged during the data collection and analysis and revealed six types of Elderhostelers: the activity oriented, geographical guru, experimenter, adventurer, content-committed, and the user. / The study of decision-making processes in education is in its infancy. This study paves the way for the doctoral study to expand on this foundation of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the 14 factors which were identified, defined, and examined in this study.

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Global populations are aging and by the turn of the century elderly populations will have increased significantly. The United Nations predicts that by the year 2025 the elderly will constitute 25 percent of the global population (UN Chronicle, 1988). Specifically, the global population of people over 60 years of age was 380 million in 1980, is expected to rise to 610 million in the year 2000 and will reach an alarming billion plus by 2025 (UN chronicle, 1988). The UN Chronicle anticipates faster increases in the 80 plus age group with 34 million in 1980, 58 million in 2000 and 114 million in the year 2025. The Canadian population is not excluded in the United Nations predictions. Canadians are also growing older and grayer. The "graying of Canada" is a phrase frequently coined by the media, in the latter years of the past decade. It is predicted that by the year 2025 approximately one in five Canadians will be over the age of 65 (Cooper, 1989). Senior citizens, in Canada, are now being subcategorized into the "young-old", the "old-old", the "well-ederly" and the "frail-elderly" (Cooper, 1989, p.114). The new era of Canadian seniors boasts a philosophy of living longer and dying younger (at heart). The UN Chronicle suggest that the trend towards aging could significanlty affect a society's development potential, particularly if dependency rates among the elderly are high. Eight percent of older Canadians reside in long term care institutions compared with five percent of older Americans (Tamarkin, 1988). This may suggest that Canadian dependency rates among the elderly population is higher than the United States of America or it may reflect the availability of programs specific to the elderly in Canada. Provincial governments within Canada are attempting to decrease dependency rates among the elderly by intitiating health care programs which will promote individual independence. Present day long term care facilities encourage independence among the elderly, replacing the once predominant philosophy of promoting individual dependency. This theoretical framework attempts to decrease dependency rates within long term care institutions while promoting personal independence, decision making autonomy and lifestyle flexibility. The promotion of the above named concepts assumes that the institutionalized adult's quality of life is enhanced and maintained. The provincial government of Alberta, specifically the Department of Health or Alberta Health, has in the last decade researched and implemented program changes in long term care facilities. These initiatives have had a significant impact on the delivery of care, services and programs provided to the instiutionalized elderly of Alberta. Policy and program changes introduced at the nursing home level have greatly improved and enhanced the resources and quality of existing health care services provided to the institutionalized elderly. In 1985 the revised Nursing Home Act of Alberta was introduced. This document governs all nursing homes or long term care facilities within the province. Professional staff was increased in these facilities to better meet the demands of an aging instiutionalized elderly population. The previous Nursing Home Act had established minimum standards of care and services to be delivered to the elderly but the revised 1985 Nursing Home Act further developed these standards in an effort to increase or maintain the individual's quality of life within an institution and to further promote independence amont the institutionalized elderly. Alberta Health then introduced, in 1987, a classification system for all nursing homes. The ultimate goal of the classification system is to fund facilities in a more equitable manner taking into account individual facility care requirements. For example, a nursing home with heavy or intense care requirements will be funded at a higher rate compared with facilities which have light or minimal care requirements. The classification system determines staffing patterns for the nursing department within long term care facilities. For facilities with above average care requirements the non-professional nursing staff was increased. The professional nursing staff ratio was increased from 17 percent to 22 percent. Professional and non-professional nursing staff was not decreased in any facility. The provincial Department of Health has made a concerted effort to improve the quality of life for elderly individuals residing within Alberta institutions. Medicine Hat, a southeastern Alberta community, has a total population of 42,290 (Census Summary Part3, 1988). The Census Summary (1988) explains that 14 percent of Medicine Hat's total population consists of adults over the age of 65 years. This is much higher than the provincial percentage of 8.2 percent. The Medicine Hat News (1990) reported that in the early months of 1990, 6,000 of the city's residents were 65 years of age and older but that number will soar to 7,200 by the year 2000 with half of these individuals 75 years of age and older. As the past Director of Nursing in a nursing home in Medicine Hat, I am most concerned with meeting the needs of the institutionalized elderly. The revised Alberta Nursing Home Act of 1985 and classification systme of 1987 have created the resources within a nursing home to realistically meet the complex and varying health care needs of older individuals. According to Maslow's (1970) theory of human motivation a hierarchy of human needs exists. The beginning point or basis for motivation theory is the meeting of human physiological needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Maslow's hierarchy of needs then continues with the human need for safety, love and belonging, esteem and lastly, the need for self-actualization. Individual learning experiences promote and meet one's esteem needs. However, Maslow proposed that esteem needs cannot be met unless those needs below it on the hierarchy scale are initially met and maintained. Nursing homes do meet the basic survival or physiological needs of their residents. These individuals are fed, clother and sheltered. Safety needs of the instiutionalized elderly are met by the institution in terms of 'security, structure, order and protection" (Maslow, 1970, p. 39). The institutional setting may not adequately meet the individual's need for love and belonging. This can be attempted, collectively, on a group basis but individual loneliness may prevail. It is hoped that these needs can be met with the assistance of the individuals' family or friends. If love and belonging needs are adequately fulfilled then Maslow acknowledges that esteem needs may be attained. Esteem needs include the desire "for self-respect or self-esteem and for the esteem of others" (Maslow, 1970, p. 45). The long term care facility may attempt to meet an individuals' esteem needs by providing learning opportunities which will promote "individual recognition, achievement, mastery, competence, confidence, independence, status, importance, appreciation and dignity" (p. 45). The meeting of an individual's esteem needs may or may not lead one to strive for self-actualization which, according to Maslow is the epitome of being. The need for interdependence is perhaps a higher need than self-actualization. The need for interdependence suggest that each individual or groups of individuals must rely on the other for their co-existence. Interdependence is crucial within long term care settings as residents, their familiees and/or significant others and the institution strive for an environment of mutuality. Historically, the physical, social, spiritual and mental well being of the institutionalized elderly was a goal most long term care facilities strived for. This conceptual framework surmises that learning needs are a part of the individual's mental and social needs. Nursing homes contain several departments which address specific needs of the resident. For instance, the nursing, dietary, phsiotherapy and occupational therapy departments ensure that the physical needs of the institutionalized elderly are assessed and addressed by the recreational department within a long term care facility. In Medicine Hat, community senior citizen centers as well as the local college have provided learning opportunities for older adults who reside in a community setting. However, long term care facilities have not truly addressed the issue of providing learning sessions for the lucid institutionalized elderly. Perhaps this is due, to some extent, to certain attitudes espoused by society in general, towards aging and the institutionalized elderly. Nursing homes may be perceived by some members of society as the final resting place for the living. Inhabitants of nursing homes may be perceived as a collective group rather than individuals with uniquely varying personalities, preferences, desire and emotions. The institutionalized elderly are individuals who wish to live their lives as do otje members of society, with definition, purpose and the desire to be recognized. Society has in the past negatively stereotyped aging and has held an infatuation with youth which has contributed to the ideology that aging was not an important process to be studied (Groombridge, 1982). However, with the realization that the elderly population is increasing significantly researchers are becoming more interested in understanding aging as it constitutes a complex process which involves biological, psychological, social, political and economic factors. According to McDaniel (1986) aging is poorly understood at present but is receiving greater attention and an increasing amount of research has rectnely been intiated on the subject. In my opinion, research initiatives concerning the institutionalized elderly are long overdue. Long term care facilities are now placing greater emphasis on the goals of resident individuality, personal autonomy and institutional flexibility with regard to the reidents' lifestyles. Long term care professionals are now motivated to inquire and seek clarification from their clientele in an effort to achieve this new goal. An increasing elderly population has prompted researchers to consider new and unexplored areas of critical thinking concerning elderhood. The identification of learning needs among the lucid institutionalized elderly is an unexplored area of elderhood. Past research on learning needs among the elderly indicates that gaps do exist in the research. Further studies are required in order to understand and plan future learning programs for the lucid instiutionalized individual. / ii, 151 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

There is an acknowledged need for continual intellectual growth in older adults. This study describes the characteristics of learning practiced by a particular. group of well-elderly adults over the age of 75. Data were gathered self-reported learning experiences.A semi-structured interview was developed by the researcher to elicit responses in three areas that characterize learning: (1) decision to start to learn, (2) awareness of individual learning process, and (3) evaluation of their own learning processes. Fifteen members (n=10 women and n=5 men) of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Huntington, IN were interviewed.The data showed depth and comprehension in the learning experiences. The learning experiences ranged from skill acquisition to the writing of scholarly papers. The data indicated the group was homogeneous allowing it to be used for future research comparisons. Data for the three learning characteristics revealed that building on experience as a basis, the group was continually ready to learn. They had established wide resource networks, used a variety of printed, visual, and audio material, and readily sought expert advice. From the bases the participants to organized the material, evaluated the information, related the information to their situations, and then used the information to make decisions. All of the participants this process. / Department of Educational Leadership