Gerontology 501: Applied Legal and Regulatory Issues in Aging
Professor: Julia Walsh, J.D.
Email: juliarwa@usc.edu
Phone: 949-292-5199 (Cell, you can call or text)
Fridays: 10:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Office Hours: Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. or by appointment
Introduction
The world is currently facing an “aging boom” as the percentage of the population that is
over age 65 rises. This demographic shift has triggered increasing regulation of the
delivery of services to an aging population. A practical understanding of laws and
regulations that apply to older persons is important for anyone who intends to pursue a
career in gerontology or related fields. This course will cover a variety of topics in elder
law, with special emphasis on the application of laws and regulations in real-world
situations.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
1) Understand how federal, state and local laws and regulations apply to the delivery
of services to an aging population
2) Understand the human resource process within the confines of legal and
regulatory issues
3) Mitigate legal exposure through customer service
4) Understand how to access regulations and work with regulatory agencies in
making correct operational decisions
Readings
There will be no textbooks that you will need to purchase for the course. I will be posting
excerpts from different textbooks plus other articles on a weekly basis. These readings
are designed to help foster productive responses from topics that will be posted in the
discussion section of Blackboard.
Discussion/Class Participation:
Each week, I will post two topics of discussion regarding the information discussed
during lecture and from the readings. You are expected to respond to each of these
discussion topics. Posts will be graded based on quality, quantity and the level of
interaction between students. This interaction is meant to replicate the discussion that
typically occurs in a classroom setting and may lead to other avenues of discussion.
Students are encouraged to respond to each other’s posts.
Articles and Responses
There will be a current event section on the blackboard. Each student is required to post
an article on legal and regulatory issues that are relevant to the aging population, and then
lead the discussion on the article. Students will be able to sign up for a specific week
when the article will be posted.
Some weeks may have more than one article and discussion leader in order to
accommodate schedules. Students leading the discussion are expected to email the
instructor the article and initial discussion question(s) based on the article. The instructor
will create a new forum for the question/topic and the discussion leader will then take
over moderation duties for the duration of the topic.
You must also reply to each of the articles posted by your classmates.
Due: Discussions will begin each week on Friday afternoon and will continue until
the following Friday at 10:00 a.m. PST. Discussion leaders must email the instructor
(juliarwa@usc.edu) no later than 10:00 a.m. PST on the day the topic begins &
moderate the discussion until the topic closes. Weekend participation is optional,
but is open so that all schedules are accommodated.
Critical Thinking Assignments
There will be two critical thinking assignments besides the midterm and the final. They
will test your ability to apply laws and regulations to hypothetical situations and make
operational decisions. You will be asked to draft a short paper, 2-3 pages in length
double-spaced, with your analysis and response to the hypothetical question to
demonstrate your understanding of a particular concept or issues. I will post the specifics
regarding each assignment two weeks prior to the due date.
Critical Thinking Assignment #1 Due 9/17 (Monday) by 11:00 p.m. PST
Critical Thinking Assignment #2 Due 11/13 (Tuesday) by 11:00 p.m. PST
Midterm Project
Summary: Obtain a state survey for a skilled nursing facility. You can do this by
downloading the survey from the web at
http://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.aspx, or by visiting the facility
and obtaining the survey from the administrator. State surveys are public information and
have to be available for anyone that asks for them. Please write a paper that critiques
their survey. Do you think the deficiencies were valid? Do you agree that their plan of
correction would prevent the same deficiencies from happening in the future? What types
of incidents that may be litigated could come from a result of those deficiencies and how
would attorneys exploit the survey and use it to their advantage in court? Please do not
be confined to these questions as you explore the survey process. Prior surveys are also
available through the website given above. You can use surveys from prior years as a
basis of comparison to see if the facility improved its ratings.
The paper should be 5-8 pages double-spaced. The paper should be submitted through
Blackboard no later than 11:00 p.m. PST on 10/15. Although you can type directly into
Blackboard, it is better to save your paper in the Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
with a title of the file set as your last name & “midterm” (e.g. smith_midterm.docx).
Required format is 12 point font with one-inch margins. Citations can be in APA or
MLA format. If you have any problems submitting the assignment through Blackboard,
you can e-mail the paper to juliarwa@usc.edu.
Due: 10/15 by 11:00 p.m. PST
Final project
The final project will involve a long-term care facility that has multiple issues in each
level of care. You will be given a hypothetical scenario and will have to provide the
regulatory implications of the issues that are going wrong and how you would fix them in
order to mitigate the legal consequences that could occur.
The paper should be 10-15 pages double-spaced. The paper should be submitted through
Blackboard no later than 10:00 a.m. PST on 12/17. It should be saved in the Microsoft
Word format (.doc or .docx) and the title of the file should be your last name &
“midterm” (e.g. smith_midterm.docx). Required format is 12 point font with one-inch
margins. Citations can be in APA or MLA format. As with the midterm, if you have any
problems submitting the assignment through Blackboard, you can e-mail the paper to
juliarwa@usc.edu.
Due: 12/17 by 10:00 a.m. PST
Grading
Articles and Responses
Discussion Topics/Class Participation
Critical Thinking Assignments
Midterm Paper
Final Paper
15%
15%
20%
20%
30%
Statement for Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of
verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the
letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301
and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is
(213) 740-0776.
Statement on Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic
honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the
expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an
instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by
others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to
understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the
Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in
Appendix A: http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be
referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further
review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be
found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.
8/31
Introduction / Orientation
 Overview of the Class
 History of Laws and Regulations in the U.S.
 Looking forward – demographic shifts and policy issues
9/7
Ethics and Decision Making
 Who is the client
 Power of attorney
 Conservatorship/Guardianship
9/14
Legal aspects of death and dying
 Informed consent
 Wrongful death
 Assisted Suicide
 Advanced directives vs. power of attorney
Critical Thinking Assignment #1 Due 9/17
9/21
Fair housing and ADA
 Discrimination
 Race
 Sexual orientation
 Age
 Religion
 Pets


Physical ability
Advertising/Marketing
9/28
Medicare and Medicaid
10/5
Skilled Nursing
 Staffing requirements
 Food service
 Architecture and design
 Clinical capabilities
 Medicare/ Medicaid
 Other payment sources
10/12
Residential Care Facilities
 Assisted living
 Dementia care
 Board and care homes
 Staffing
 Design
 Clinical capabilities
 Payment sources
Mid term is due by 10/15
10/19 Home Health / Hospice Care
10/26 Human Resources
 Hiring
 Management
11/2
Human Resources
 Progressive Discipline
 Termination
 Legal issues
Critical Thinking Assignment #2 Due 11/13
11/9
Ownership Structure
 For profit
 Not for profit
 Tax exempt status issues
11/16 Fitting information technology within the regulatory environment of long term
care
 HIPAA
 Digital record keeping
 Call systems - pros and cons
11/30 Mitigating legal exposure through customer service
12/7
Risk management and insurance issues
 Workers compensation
 General liability
 Abuse
Regulatory agencies: roles and responsibilities
Final paper is due by 12/17 by 10:00 a.m. PST