Thursday, May 3, 2007
Megan VerMaas found a part-time job this year that gives her a window into the past — but it may also give her and other students a window into the future.
VerMaas, Lincoln, Neb., sophomore, works as a caregiver for an elderly Lawrence woman, helping the woman with meal preparation, housekeeping and other tasks. She works for Home Helpers, a new Lawrence business that provides in-home caregiving to senior citizens and others who need it.
KANSAN
The Douglas County Health Department’s Project LIVELY is a care management program for senior citizens. Elderly caregiving is growing as a career choice for students.
VerMaas said she enjoyed hearing the woman’s stories about her life and her family.
“It puts your life in perspective a little bit better,” VerMaas said.
Her job is in an area that will likely provide careers for many young Americans: caring for older Americans.
As baby boomers retire and people live longer than ever before, careers in aging could explode in the near future, said Sandra Kelly-Allen, coordinator of the Douglas County Health Department’s Project LIVELY, a care management program for senior citizens.
“It’s just going to boom,” Kelly-Allen said. “I don’t know how it couldn’t.”
She said Home Helpers was one of several Lawrence caregiving businesses to open in the last year. But the effect of aging people’s needs will reach beyond caregiving, she said. New careers dealing with the elderly could arise in the fields of medicine, social work, computers, communication technology and law.
The School of Social Welfare began a program this year to encourage its master’s in social work students to specialize in aging-related work with the help of a three-year grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, an organization that aims to ensure care for the nation’s older population.
After completing their first of two years of the master’s in social work program, students in the aging program receive internships with stipends at local aging-related agencies.
pullquote
When students have a chance to work with older people, they’re able to debunk those myths. They find it a very rewarding experience.
- Doreen Higgins
Doreen Higgins, a doctoral student who coordinates the program, said the national population of adults older than 65 years old, currently about 35 million, was projected to double by 2030.
She said the need for social workers to work with the elderly was compounded by many people’s misconceptions about older people: that most older people are mentally incompetent, live in nursing homes and feel miserable all the time.
“When students have a chance to work with older people, they’re able to debunk those myths,” Higgins said. “They find it a very rewarding experience.”
She said studies had shown that only about 5 percent of people older than 65 live in nursing homes.
VerMaas said she applied for her job with Home Helpers partly because she was a nursing student, and she wanted to make sure she was fit to enter a caregiving profession. The job has helped her feel more confident in her career choice, she said.
Julie Mettenburg, director of the Lawrence Home Helpers franchise, agreed that elderly caregiving jobs could be a good career step for students of social work, nursing or other caregiving occupations.
“You learn really the challenges that the elderly are dealing with, from legal to financial,” Mettenburg said. “It’s a real eye-opener when you work with them.”
Kansan staff writer Matt Erickson can be contacted at merickson@kansan.com.
— Edited by Lisa Tilson
Professor helps develop robot to help the ...
The robot will assist elderly people with everyday tasks
Students volunteer at hospital
Students donating time at Lawrence Memorial Hospital often get as much out ...
Nursing students miss out on Lawrence life
KU's nursing program, which is in Kansas City, Kan., means that students ...
Malicious Intimacy
Four students' experiences with domestic violence.
A sobering struggle
College students with alcoholism fight to overcome their addiction in an alcohol-infused ...
Tragedy in transition: When death interrupts college
Three students' college experiences were shattered by the loss of a parent.
Diplomas aren’t the only path to success
A new study says universities should make degree programs more career-oriented
Alumni play different roles now at University
Former students have returned to the University not just for homecoming, but ...
Shortage of doctors for the elderly expected ...
Nursing school faces faculty shortage
Students find it harder to be admitted with fewer instructors teaching classes.
Ghost world
As winter approaches, downtown Lawrence’s sizeable homeless population must deal with crowded ...
KU student uses research to help Navajo ...
Nasbah Ben, Chinle, Ariz., graduate student, researches air quality in the Four ...
Representatives visit Life Span Institute
Kansas Representatives tour Life Span Institute to better understand the work researchers ...
New lights could make neighborhood safer
Six student organizations are working with the city to install lighting near ...
Care for rape victims inadequate, says DA
Short-staffed Lawrence Memorial Hospital is criticized by Branson for turning away victims ...
Hospice care offers comfort and support
Volunteers help improve the quality of life for terminal patients.
Eight KU students win Fulbright Scholarships
The prestigious award funds scholars’ research in foreign countries.
Daldorph named first Hall Center Scholar
Lawrence sophomore Breanna Daldorph’s time spend in the Hall Center for the ...
Beauty of the fairer sex
Both women and men performed in "Genius of Women," a talent show ...
Good afternoon, class
Harry Schaffer, professor of economics, has been teaching at the University since ...
All hail the queen
Some stuffed friends stick around in college
Teddy bears and blankets often stay with students even after they grow ...
Alcohol on the brain: a look at ...
Binge drinking may have negative long-term effects that many students don’t realize.
Program eases need for nurses
Student works through college selling Mary Kay
Freshman Pamela Carper has a unique college job: She's a Mary Kay ...
Alzheimer's deserves attention
KU professor reminds students that Alzheimer’s is a growing problem in the ...
Groups promote cancer awareness
University begins to prepare for H1N1
The University is sending words of flu warning to incoming freshmen.
Mongolian international student writes poems to alleviate ...
Her book of poems, ‘Soliorol,’ which means ‘madness’ in Mongolian, was published ...
Degrees of success: athletes after college
College athletes' payment is their degree. But what if they never get ...
More graduates enter volunteer job market
Despite job market looking better for post graduates, several choose to participate ...
Making the case for a cause
Life inside a health care access clinic with a woman who sees ...
Consumers As Providers helps people help others
The Consumers as Providers Training Program, or CAP, gives people with mental ...
Alternative breaks offer unique opportunities
A one credit hour class and $250 is the cost of admission.
Hawk Week organizer works months on event
Studying abroad in Wales during college inspired the Hawk Week coordinator to ...
Study finds women’s successes affected by psychological ...
Women’s perception of their education and social status affects their success in ...
Get Involved: Alternative Breaks
An opportunity to travel and give hands-on service during class breaks.
Overworked students' dangerous race against time
Is too much work and too little time putting students' health at ...
Student reports rape at Lorimar Town Home
An unidentified man reportedly raped a KU student in her Lorimar Town ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID