Building an Interdisciplinary Faculty Team for Allied Health Gerontology Education

Leadership: a central tenet for postgraduate dementia services curricula development in Australia

“…It is guided by asking: What do future leaders need to know to be effective in leading, managing and delivering innovative programs to provide best practice for a diversity of older people living with dementia in the community and residential sectors of the aged care industry? The scope of this question demands an interdisciplinary approach that is central to the delivery of dementia care and aged care (Glista and Petersons, 2003). It embraces knowledge from gerontology, biology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, ethics and business management.…”

“…This is particularly important for someone who has a diagnosis of dementia as such people are often excluded, stigmatized and discriminated against and experience "dementiaism" (Brooker, 2007). As educators, we appreciate the scholarly work from a range of disciplines to help us better understand and make better sense of what we are doing (Glista and Petersons, 2003). However, we need more from these disciplines.…”

Creating Learning Prisms with an Interdisciplinary Case Study Workshop

“…Increasingly, the importance of interdisciplinary efforts has become evident in customer, client, and patient focused organizations (Ashkenas, Uhich, Jick, & Kerr, 1995;Dreachslin, 1999;Glista & Petersons, 2003;Lucente, Rea, Vorce, & Yancy, 1991;Mazur, Beeston, & Yerxa, 1979;Schroeder, Morrison, Cavanaugh, West, & Montgomery, 1999). When students graduate from their academic silos, they are often immediately confronted with practitioners' expectations of working productively with colleagues in multidisciplinary and ethnically diverse teams.…”

Caring for an Ageing Population: Are Physiotherapy Graduates Adequately Prepared?

“…There needs to be mandatory rotation through the continuum of care for older persons, from community-based care to terminal care, and from preventive and health promotion to rehabilitative care (Department of Social Development, 2002). Gerontology is an interdisciplinary field (Hill & Edwards, 2004;Glista & Petersons, 2003) that lends itself to practices within a biopsychosocial, interdisciplinary model of health. The pathophysiology and determinants of ageing, socioeconomic changes, and ethical considerations suggest that there is a need for specialized training and preparation as a foundation for practice when working with older persons.…”