Age Wave Implications

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Department of Gerontology

School of Allied Health Professions

Medical College of Virginia Campus

Virginia Commonwealth University

Course Syllabus Course number: GRTY 691:902
Opportunity Identification and an Aging Society
Spring Semester, 2007

Class will meet on Thursday’s from 4:00 to 6:40 p.m.
Course begins on Thursday, January 18, 2007 and will meet for 5 consecutive Thursday’s through February 22, 2007
Location: 301College Street – MCV campus Room # 120
Credit hours: 1

Instructor Ronald L. Moore Principal, Fidia Advisors, LLC www.FidiaAdvisors.com
Founder, FamilyCare America, Inc. and National Caregivers Library www.CaregiversLibrary.org
Office: 804-327-1112
901 Moorefield Park Drive Suite 100 Richmond, VA 23236

Americans with Disabilities Act Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 require Virginia Commonwealth University to provide academic adjustments or accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students seeking academic adjustments or accommodations must self-identify with the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, Mr. Donald Roebuck ((804) 828-9782) on the MCV campus. After meeting with the Coordinator, students are encouraged to meet with their instructors to discuss their needs, and if applicable, any lab safety concerns related to their disabilities. Thank you.

Course Description

This course will provide a framework for identifying and analyzing problems and opportunities driven by an aging population. It will explore the impact of an aging population on individuals, families and a variety of organizations, professions, academic disciplines, and business and career opportunities.

Particular focal points will include family caregivers, the business case for employer support of working caregivers; the impact of an aging society on the demands for, and delivery of, healthcare; the use (and potential use) of technology to improve the lives of seniors and those who care for them; financial aspects of aging and caregiving including an overview of the macro-economic implications of an aging society and the market response of the financial services industry to large-scale demographic shifts; spirituality and, the impact on the traditional operation of ‘the church’.

Peripheral areas of discussion may include engineering, pharmacy, law, advertising and communications, design (such as furniture, architecture), real estate, construction and retail.

Learning Objectives

Students will gain a framework for identifying and evaluating problems and opportunities driven by an aging population and for examining them through multiple perspectives. Students will identify major trends / developments and examine how their convergence has/will create multiple large scale problems and opportunities. Students will envision products / services (whether new or improvements to existing ones) that could enable seniors and their family caregivers to live longer, more active, independent, financially secure, healthy lives and discuss strategies for developing collaborative efforts across disciplinary boundaries to create and launch them.

Students will appreciate the necessity of seeing problems and opportunities through multiple perspectives and become more aware of the necessity of “speaking the language” of multiple constituents and “framing their message to the audience” when trying to develop, promote or implement solutions to age-related problems.

Professional Behavior

Students are expected to adhere to the following guidelines:

Be prepared to participate in class. Feel free to ask questions and provide input into all discussions, but do so in a professional and courteous manner. 

Be inquisitive and show initiative - both in and out of class. Use good study/work habits to enhance the value of the course for yourself and for others. For every hour you are in class, spend at least one hour outside of class looking for related research and real-life examples of problems and opportunities related to an aging society and how others are developing solutions to those problems. Be prepared to discuss your “out-of-class” observations and research and to make your sources of information available to the class on a weekly basis. 

Expand your network of contacts. Again, show initiative. Go beyond your faculty, fellow students, the VCU community, and Aging network professionals. Use class discussion to identify people, companies and institutions that you could add to your professional network. Many will provide new insights into real-world responses to the “aging phenomenon” and even offer unexpected opportunities for career advancement or business development. Each interaction is an opportunity for you to make a good impression by showing interest in someone else’s expertise, accomplishments and perspectives on age related issues and to help them understand how your own experience and expertise might complement theirs or be used to achieve their business or professional goals. 

Be considerate of the diverse perspectives you will encounter - both in and out of the class. It is acceptable to disagree with a perspective but be respectful to classmates, instructors, guests and outside contacts when engaging in conversation or debate.

Course Materials and Student Evaluation

Required Text

The majority of the course will be in the form of presentations, discussions and brainstorming sessions. Required readings will include handouts and references to online resources made during class. Therefore, class attendance is both necessary and mandatory in order to receive a passing grade.

Supplemental Readings

See Assignments below

Assignments 1. Students are responsible for locating and recommending supplemental reading materials.
Each week, students will be expected to locate, read, and share with the class, at least one article, research report, book, or website that is pertinent to the previous week’s discussion. Such material or resource must not have been used / suggested in a prior class session. For any resource recommended by the student, the instructor reserves the right to have the student summarize the resource for the class.

2. Students must create and maintain a real-time, “Opportunities and Ideas Notebook”. This notebook must be given to the instructor on the last day of class and shall be used to determine part of student’s grade.

Students shall maintain a 3-ring binder into which the student will place copies of articles, research reports (or at least summaries thereof), printouts of web pages, or any other documents, literature, or personal notes concerning relevant opportunities and ideas that the student finds or writes during the course of the class, as described below. Content should include any findings or thoughts that cause the student to recognize a potential opportunity to create one or more products, services, programs, educational programs or materials, new ventures, assistive technology, governmental policies, etc. that are within the context of specific topics covered in the class or that occur to students as a result of concepts, trends, methods or subject matter covered by the class.

Student Evaluation

Feel free to discuss course material and assignments with the instructor at any time. Your grade will be determined on the following basis.

Point Values/ Percentages & Due Dates

1. Locating, documenting, summarizing and recommending supplemental reading is required for each class session, except the first one. = 30% of grade

2. Maintaining your “Opportunities and Ideas Notebook” is an ongoing process and the instructor may review your Notebook during any, or all, class periods, without notice. = 30% of grade

3. Opportunity Assessment and Executive Summary of Plan to Promote Solutions.
During the final class session, you will be required to select two (2) opportunities that interest you that were identified or mentioned during the course of the class.

For each, you must write a 2-page summary of the following:

A. what you understand the opportunity to be and what/whose problems, needs or desires your proposed solution would attempt to satisfy;

B. what solution you would develop (or help develop) to alleviate the underlying problem or exploit the market opportunity;

C. identify the critical audience(s) to whom you must provide value (e.g. end-users, middle-men, gatekeepers, institutions, etc.) by delivering your solution and why they would embrace your idea.

D. provide your views on how the solution would support itself financially;

E. identify at least two key disciplines (other than your own discipline or area of expertise) that would need to be called upon to help make the idea/plan a reality and write a brief description of how you would position / articulate your idea to a representative of that discipline so that they would clearly understand the value of your proposed solution to themselves, their organizations and/or their constituents.

Each component above will be evaluated separately as well as considered within the context of the whole. The relative value of each component follows:

A. 15% B. 10% C. 30% D. 15% E. 30% Total value of this requirement = 40% of total grade

Grading Scale: 93 - 100 = A 92 - 83 = B 82 - 73 = C 72 – 63 = D

Students who think that their work has not been fairly evaluated/graded are welcome to make appointments to see the course instructor and present coherent arguments for a better evaluation. Any student unable to complete an assignment must notify the instructor before the due date of the assignment provide an explanation as to why they are unable to complete the work by its due date. Any student missing an assignment or the final class without an explanation approved by the faculty of the Department of Gerontology will automatically receive a zero for that portion of their work.

Only students with excused absences will be given an opportunity to make up the work. All assignments must be submitted on time unless approved in advance. No exceptions will be made. Any assignments submitted after the deadline will be reduced by 10% of the total possible points for that work. If you find yourself having difficulty meeting the guidelines of this course it is your responsibility to speak to me as soon as possible. The final assignment described above will be in lieu of a traditional exam. The ability to successfully complete the final written assignment will be dependant upon lecture information, reading assignments and the course and lecture objectives. Naturally, it is hoped that students will find this course stimulating and relevant to their professional training. Students experiencing difficulty with the course should seek assistance from the instructor. 

Proposed Course Schedule NOTE TO STUDENTS:
Following is a broad outline of anticipated topics and dates. Sessions may differ somewhat from this outline, both in terms of content and order, based on the schedules of guest speakers and the desire of the class to focus more or less attention on a particular subject area.

Week 1:

Thursday, January 18, 2007
Introduction to an Opportunity Identification Framework Understanding Emerging 50+ Markets: A Framework for Analysis The Caregiving Phenomenon

Week 2: Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Impact of Aging on Employers The Business Case for Employer Involvement in Eldercare Healthcare and an Aging Society Technology (time permitting)

Week 3: Thursday, February 1, 2007
Spirituality and Aging Changing Demographics and the organized Church

Week 4: Thursday, February 8, 2007
The market response of the Financial Services Industry to an Aging Consumer Base Macro-economics of an Aging Society

Week 5: Thursday, February 15, 2007
Conclusions and Review Student Exercise / Exam

Honor Pledge Statement of Philosophy

Virginia Commonwealth University recognizes that honesty, truth, and integrity are values central to its mission as an institution of higher education. Therefore, it must act to maintain these values, even to the point of separating from the University those who violate them. This policy describes the responsibilities of students, faculty and administration in upholding academic integrity, while at the same time respecting the rights of individuals to the due process offered by administrative hearings and appeals. All persons enrolled in any course or program offered by VCU, and all persons supervising the learning of any student are responsible for acting in accordance with the provisions of this policy. Students are responsible for

• Understanding the types of conduct, which are deemed unacceptable and, therefore, are prohibited by this policy.

• Refraining from committing any act of cheating, plagiarizing, facilitating academic dishonesty, abusing academic materials, stealing, lying or soliciting others to engage in any of the above.

• Refraining from acts of intimidation, threats of physical harm, or threats of retribution in an attempt to prevent the testimony of another member of the University Community at any time after charges have been made.

• Reporting every instance in which the student has a suspicion or knowledge that academic conduct which violates this policy or its spirit has taken place to the faculty member responsible for instruction, or to a member of the Graduate and Professional StudentHonor Council, or to an Honor System Faculty Coordinator for the Undergraduate Student Honor Council.More information regarding the honor system may be found at: http://www.students.vcu.edu/rg/policies/rg7conductguide.html

 

Ronald Moore :: Dec.01.2006 :: VCU Class Only ::

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