This course aims to deepen students’ professional knowledge, skills and values in working with older adults with cognitive impairment and mental health problems and their family caregivers; and to critically evaluate the current issues and develop appropriate intervention strategies related to health and social care for older adults with cognitive impairment and mental health problems in the context of Hong Kong. Various intervention approaches in working with older adults with cognitive impairment and mental health problems and their family caregivers will be discussed, such as narrative therapy, grief counselling, life review, cognitive stimulation therapy, validation therapy, etc. In addition, this course provides students with experiential learning activities to enhance learning and application of intervention approaches and skills. In particular, by working with older adults on their life stories, students learn how to help older adults improve their self-esteem and alleviate their emotional distress.

Continuous Assessment: 100%

Assessment Details

AT1: Life Story Work (30%)
Students are required to divide up into several groups. Each group is required to conduct life story work with an older adult aged 60 or above throughout his/her life. The goal is to create a life story for an older adult to facilitate their life review, boost their self-esteem and/or alleviate their emotional distress.

AT2: Presentation & Role Play (30%)
Students are required to divide up into several groups. Each group is responsible for the presentation on working with an older adult with cognitive impairment and mental health problems. Role play is employed to demonstrate students’ understanding and application of an intervention approach to work with an older adult with cognitive impairment and/or mental health problem.

AT3: Term Paper (40%)
Each student is required to submit a term paper of approximately 2,500 words on the critical evaluation of an intervention approach learnt in this course working with older adults with cognitive impairment and/or mental health problem.