Giving
Students a
Look at Aging
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
at UTMB Health
Let’s explore together…
• Who am I, where is my OLLI, and
why this workshop?
• Do you already have any
intergenerational programs?
• Do you plan to begin one or expand
what you already do?
Objectives for Today:
• Define 3 levels of intergenerational
learning/sharing possible in your OLLI
• Explore examples of successful
intergenerational programming
• Examine peer-reviewed literature
• Assess how these principles apply at
your OLLI
Three Levels of
Intergenerational Learning
1. Elementary students share lifestory
and occupational mentorship
2. Community college students visit
classes, interview students
3. Post-graduate OT, PA, MDs and
MD students rotate, volunteer, and
teach
Elementary School and OLLI
1. Local Satori School project: Students
interview OLLI members, write their
“lifestories,” then give a dramatic
presentation and present books
2. Local public middle school classes
“interview” OLLI members from various
backgrounds: ferry boat captain, hospital
dietician, jazz musician
Community College
Students
• Nursing students interview OLLI
members and visit classes
• OLLI interactions fulfill “Community
visits” required for graduation
• CNAs, LVNs, RNs, and others choose
experiences at OLLI as a component of
their curriculum
Free Fitness Classes at OLLI
“People in an informal setting in activities to
further health of mind, body, and soul!”
UTMB OT, PA, and MD
Students and Residents
• OT Master’s student research outcomes
garnered high marks from faculty
• PA students fulfill community
requirements in OLLI
• Medical students from first and fourth
years, Residents from Family Medicine,
MD/PhD, and Geriatric Fellows
Medical Students’
Presentation
“Now I have concrete advice on
healthy aging for my patients!”
Fourth year students
collaborated on peer
reviewed
presentation at 2014
UT Innovations in
Health Sciences
Education
Conference in Austin
Philip, Fourth Year Student
Three things learned:
• I was less strong/flexible than OLLI
members
• How little some know about computers
• The wonderful life that can be achieved
with focus on healthy living and lifelong
learning (in contrast to grim outlooks on
life in hospice home visits)
Med Students in Pilates
“OLLI members could bend, flex, and
balance in ways I could not!”
Dimple, Fourth Year Student
Three things learned:
• Art teacher explained more cohesively
than any college teacher
• Fascinating multitude of diversity—
variety of voices, conclusions, meanings
• Best elective in all of medical school—I
tell everyone!
Students Try Meditation and
Yoga
“How hard could it be? I was sore for days afterward!”
How it Works…
• UTMB Faculty request experience in OLLI
for their students
• Schedule includes movement/fitness,
academic, lifestory, and interviews
• Students meet with director for program
overview and peer-reviewed literature
Research Support
• Hiking in the Geriatric Rotation, Weiss,
Tomasa, Journal of Family Medicine
• Taking Integrative Healthcare Education
to the Community, Sierpina, Kreitzer,
Sierpina, Explore
• Leisure Activities and Risk of Dementia,
Verghese, et. al., NEJM
Evaluation Component
UTMB Faculty Share Evaluations:
• 100% positive assessments
• Students requested two days per week
in OLLI instead of one
• Some students scheduled three day per
week in OLLI
• Students requested opportunities to
return to OLLI after elective concludes
My Favorite…Lifestory
• Effects of Life Review on Depressive
Symptoms, Chippendale, Bear-Lehman,
American Journal of OT
• Improving Depressive Symptoms… MastelSmith, et. al., Journal of Gerontological
Nursing
• Leisure Activities and Risk of Dementia,
Verghese, et. al., NEJM
Your Reflections?
• How does intergenerational
learning fit my OLLI’s goals and
mission?
• How would OLLI members benefit?
• How might students and our
community benefit?
Feel free to stay in touch…
Michelle Sierpina, PhD
Founding Director
OLLI at UTMB Health
409.763.5604
msierpin@utmb.edu