There is a need for aging theories to become holistic and multidisciplinary with a life span focus. A theory is the construction of explicit explanations in accounting for empirical findings. A good gerontological theory integrates knowledge, tells how and why phenomena are related, leads to prediction, and provides process and understanding. In addition, a good theory must be holistic and take into account all that impacts on a person throughout a lifetime of aging. Based on these criteria, the authors created the Theory of Thriving, with a holistic life span perspective for studying people in their environments as they age. This article proposes a theory for studying people over time in a holistic, encompassing manner.

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PubMed2002

Characteristics of nursing homes adopting environmental transformations.

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Integration of gerontology content in nongeriatric undergraduate nursing courses.

During the last several years, a school of nursing in the southeastern United States has made concerted efforts to integrate geriatric content into every undergraduate course except obstetrics. Even the pediatric nursing course has infused content about grandparents, both as care providers for children and as extended family members. Faculty expertise and passion for teaching geriatric best practices stimulated innovative and creative student experiences without overwhelming curricular revision. This article describes how gerontology content was incorporated into each curricular area and provides examples of classroom and clinical teaching strategies that were successful at this school.

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Education/community collaborations for undergraduate nursing gerontological clinical experiences.

In 2000, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing developed guidelines to help nurse educators incorporate gerontological nursing content into baccalaureate curricula. In 2001, the Hartford Foundation also provided grant monies to nursing programs to support gerontology curricular innovations and new clinical experiences. The funding allowed faculty to focus time, energy, and resources on gerontological nursing education. We, the authors, representing two funded schools of nursing, collaborated with community agencies to develop undergraduate gerontological clinical learning experiences and are encouraged by the results. This article describes the development of these collaborations and serves as a model for other schools of nursing. The education/community collaborations described here focus on clinical learning strategies, implementation activities, and outcomes/benefits of the experiences. Both educational programs had supportive administration, faculty willing to participate in curriculum change, organized plans to implement geriatric curricular enhancement, and long-standing community partnerships.

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