 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Elaine Jurkowski, PhD, School of Social Work, Southern Illinois University, Quigley 4, M/C 4329, Carbondale, IL 62901, (618) 453-2243, etjurkow@siu.edu
The next decade will recognize an increased community census of people with disabilities and people who are over 55 years of age. These changes call for a response from the public health workforce to understand how behavior, lifestyle and environment will contribute to one’s health. Since public health social workers are engaged in the process of advocacy and brokerage, these issues are paramount. This paper discusses strategies for social work curriculum building, which will begin to address these issues which result from a series of focus groups with the constituent community. A series of focus groups were conducted in a number of rural communities in Southern Illinois to ascertain what issues seniors and people with disabilities perceived of importance when considering interventions that address behavior, lifestyle and environmental factors contributing to health. Preliminary findings suggest that there is a dearth of understanding how the unique nature of rural communities factors into behavior, lifestyle and environment, and the role these play in the overall health of seniors. Secondly, preliminary findings suggest that this target perceives vital lessons are necessary for the development of public health and social work curriculum to meet these training needs. The paper will conclude with recommendations for curriculum strategies which can be used within social work and public health curricula.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Aging, Workforce
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.