MiraCosta College to Prepare Students to Work with Area’s Aging Population with New Gerontology Degree

The statistics can seem overwhelming. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the number of Americans age 65 and older will more than double, from 40.3 million in 2000 to 88.5 million in 2050. In 1990, that number stood at a little more than 31 million.

Even more profound, the population of those age 85 and over could nearly quadruple from the 5.5 million in 2010 to 19 million by 2050. In 1900 that number stood at just 100,000.

Now MiraCosta College is at the forefront of preparing its students to work with and care for the aging population, launching a revised Gerontology Studies Program that many say is as extensive as any at the community college level.

“There is going to be a tremendous increase in the 65-and-older population in the United States, and we are going to need people who are knowledgeable about how to care for them, how to deal with the issues they are facing,” said Dr. Judith Phillips, an associate faculty member at MiraCosta College who was instrumental in revising the gerontology program.

Until the fall 2012 semester began, MiraCosta College’s gerontology program consisted primarily of an Introduction to Aging course, along with related electives. The revised curriculum includes the new courses, Caregiving: Techniques for Working with the Frail Elderly, Psychology of Aging: Adult Development and Aging, and Topics in Gerontology. Optional classes in biology, health, nutrition, nursing, communication, psychology and sociology round out the curriculum that will secure an Associate of Arts Degree in Gerontology.

“It is a much more comprehensive program that is much more related to the discipline of gerontology,” Dr. Phillips said. “We want to give our students a solid basis for understanding this population.”

Discussions about improving the gerontology program began in the spring of 2011, but the real work didn’t get under way until several months later, Dr. Phillips said.

She and others point out that the booming population of older Americans is resulting in faster-than-average job growth in a number of professions, including home health care aides and social workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, states that “employment opportunities for social workers with backgrounds in gerontology should be excellent, particularly in the growing numbers of assisted-living and senior-living communities.”

“The gerontology A.A. degree will help prepare students for working with and providing services to the older adult population,” said Dr. Robert Kelley, MiraCosta College’s chair of the Psychology Department. “This population, and in particular those who are 85-plus, represent the fastest growing population in the world. Many professions such as fashion, business, travel, marketing and health care will provide services to this growing population.”

Dr. Kelley said the new gerontology program at MiraCosta College “emphasizes both the practical and theoretical, covering age-related physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development and changes during older adulthood. Courses within the A.A. degree focus on what leads to optimal aging, as well as how to work with the elderly who are frail due to advanced age and/or chronic illness.”

For more information on the program, contact the MiraCosta College Counseling Office at 760.795.6670. Spring semester begins January 14. Register online at our website, www.miracosta.edu.