Meghan Marty

Earlier this month I attended the second biannual Diversity and Aging conference in Chicago sponsored by AARP. The theme of the conference was "The Power of Inclusion." This conference had a much wider scope than most of the conferences I usually attend, with presentations ranging from identifying activities for people with dementia, to health literacy and access for immigrants and refugees, to marketing to 50+ diverse populations.

I was fortunate to be chosen as one of six graduate student Conference Fellows. As a Fellow, one of my tasks was to write a summary of the presentations I attended, which will be included in the conference proceedings. 

The next AARP Diversity and Aging conference will take place in 2011 in Washington, DC.

Today marked the end of the fifth and final Aging and Mental Health Conference, hosted by the Gerontology Center at UCCS. The topic of this year's conference was "Integrated Health Care for Older Adults." The conference co-chairs were Sara Honn Qualls, Ph.D. and Deborah King, Ph.D. of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY.

Integrated mental health care essentially referrs to mental health services that are delivered in non-traditional settings, such as primary care clinics and long-term care facilities. This can make mental health services accessible to individuals who may not otherwise access mental health treatment because of barriers such as inadequate financial resources, stigma associated with mental health, and limited transportation. In a primary care clinic, for instance, the idea is that physical and mental health are treated together to help improve the quality of life of patients, breaking down the separation of body and mind that often exists in Western medicine.

The Alzheimer's Association has come out with a new easy-to-understand list for helping people to determine whether or not the memory problems they are experiencing may be due to Alzheimer's Disease. Each item on this list includes an example of what might suggest Alzheimer's and what might suggest typical changes that come with aging.

I finished the second year of my PhD program last week (that's me in the photo jumping for joy). Julio and I celebrated by camping at the Sand Dunes over the week-end.

Beginning this Sunday, May 10th HBO is showing a series of documentaries called "The Alzheimer's Project." I haven't seen any of them yet, but I hear from colleagues on geropsychology listservs that they are "powerful and well produced."

I had never heard of the "conscious competence" theory of learning before, but I've run into it twice in the past week (the universe must be telling me something!). Apparently, it's unclear as to who first developed this model and exactly how many stages are involved (see this website for more information). The basic framework is the following...

Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence - The person is not aware of the existence or relevance of the skill, nor of any skill deficit.

Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence - The person is aware of the existence and relevance of the skill, as well as deficiency in this area. This stage is uncomfortable for most (nobody likes feeling incompetent!).

Stage 3: Conscious Competence - The person can perform the skill, but it takes a lot of effort and concentration.

Stage 4: Unconscious Competence - The person becomes so practiced at the skill, it begins to feel like "second nature."

So far, graduate school has felt like one long period of conscious incompetence. It seems worse at the beginning of the semester when I'm starting new classes, new practicum rotations, and new phases of research projects. Then, just as I begin to feel like I have some idea of what I'm doing, we start a new semester all over again. This spring I've been focusing on taking a lot of deep breaths to calm my inner critic. I'm also pretty good at exercising to deal with stress. I'd love to hear about what other graduate students do to cope with their own conscious incompetence.

Most people don't like thinking about, let alone actually planning for, the end of their lives. The legal aspects of end-of-life planning are confusing, even for those who think their wishes are clear (see How Clear Are Your Last Wishes). Fortunately, there are many resources on the web that can help to make the process more understandable. Here are a few to check out:

1) The Mayo Clinic: has definitions for living wills, advance directives, and treatment decisions that need to be made

2) Caring Connections: program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, has links to state-specific documents and information on how to talk with your loved ones

3) Five Wishes: a popular living will document with easy-to-understand language

I've gotten a few questions recently on how one becomes a geropsychologist. While there are many paths leading to a career in geropsychology, here is one of the most efficient routes:

1) Get a bachelor's degree in Psychology: if not Psychology, another social science (e.g., Sociology) or physical science (e.g., Biology) is also helpful, as long as you take enough Psychology classes to get a basic, broad understanding of the field.

2) Get a doctorate degree in Psychology: if you'd like to go into clinical work, you'll need to complete a program in Clinical or Counseling Psychology. With a bachelor's degree, these programs usually take 5 - 6 years to take classes, write a dissertation, and complete one year of internship. The internship year is typically the last year of one's program and involves full-time clinical work.

3) Get a post-doctoral ("post-doc") position: In order to gain enough supervised clinical experience to be eligible for licensure or additional research experience (and rack up publications), many people choose to do a post-doc. Depending on what your goals are, this could take 1 - 3 years to complete.

Some people (myself included) decide to work or get a master's degree before entering a PhD program. This can add several years to the process, but is often very valuable experience.

Division 12 II of the American Psychological Association (APA) has a lot of useful information for students in geropsychology. APA Division 20 has a comprehensive list of graduate programs that provide specialization in adult development and aging.

Earlier this week, I gave a presentation at our local senior center that was designed for older men who are recently widowed or divorced. The purpose of the presentation was to discuss:

-relationships in later life
-what is "typical" after the loss of a spouse/partner
-how to decide whether you are ready to date again
-strategies for getting what you want.

In my Psychology of Aging II class the semester, we've been learning about late-life development as well as common concepts of "successful" aging. I'm always interested in learning about older adults who defy the dreary stereotypes of late life and seem to be aging well. This story about the oldest college basketball player ever is one example of a remarkable senior who is doing just that.