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July 2001 Info-Age, Vol. 6, No. 1
Strivers: Proactive Seniors
Recent CPG graduate, Elizabeth Hardisty,
R.N., believes in the resiliency of the
human spirit—at any age! Her belief has
been reinforced during the past seven years
since she founded Strivers, a group of
Mercer Island seniors who have decided to
live proactively.
The idea for the group grew out of
Elizabeth’s weekly visits to the Mercer
Island Senior Center where she ran clinics
on foot care and gave assistance to seniors
in managing chronic conditions. During
the clinics, Elizabeth talked with the
seniors about their lives, often hearing that
they were less than satisfied. “I felt I had a
golden opportunity to positively affect that
situation,” Elizabeth said. “Society defines
older age as a time of closing; I wanted to
open up possibilities to seniors, challenging
them to change their lives. Many responded
by meeting our challenge.”
Strivers began as a year-long course with
the objective of improving the seniors’
quality of life. The group met monthly,
setting goals for themselves regarding
exercise, nutrition, self-reliance and selfesteem.
At the first meeting in 1994,
Elizabeth gave them a questionnaire
entitled, “Can I Be Stronger and Healthier
in One Year Than I am Today?” For
many of the participants, the answer was
a resounding, “Yes;” for others, there was
uncertainty.
After the first year, Elizabeth was
curious to see if the classes, designed to
bridge that gap between knowing and
doing, had had a positive affect on the
seniors’ lives. For one 71-year-old
widow, the answer was a wholehearted,
“You Bet!” This woman had lived for
years with loneliness, anxiety and
depression. Finally, after consistent
urging from her daughter, the woman
attended a Strivers meeting. One year
later, she told Elizabeth that the classes
had helped change her mind as well as
her body. She had begun to take daily
walks, working up to two miles a day;
she learned about deep breathing and its
benefits in both aerobics and walking.
“And,” the woman beamed, “when I
walk, I smile.”
What Elizabeth has observed over the
last seven years is that as a group, these
seniors’ self- expectations have escalated
because they reinforce each other’s goals
and support each other’s efforts of lifeaffirming
activities. They no longer sit
as passive audience members listening to
talks on nutrition, fitness and attitude. Now, this core group of 15,
ranging in age from 70 to 95, drives the process, taking charge to find
out more about their interests and pursuing them.
Three years ago the seniors decided they wanted to create positive
lifestyle changes and good health through natural means. They
decided on a gardening project. One of the first concerns was how
would seniors with knee and hip problems do all the bending and
lifting required. One of the members suggested involving the
students at Crest Learning Center, a public alternative high school on
the island. This collaboration of young and old created and
maintained an intergenerational community garden of healthy foods
and herbs. Throughout the summer both students and seniors
volunteered many hours in the garden. The students even made a
whimsical scarecrow (see picture, page 1). Right from the start,
Elizabeth noticed the commitment, responsibility and enthusiasm of
both groups and how they flourished in each other’s presence,
appreciating their similarities and differences. After the autumn
harvest, the two groups celebrated with a dinner made from the
bounty they grew and tended together.
Some of the seniors wanted to produce a detailed plant list of what
was grown in the garden, but were stymied because they had no
word processing abilities. The students took the seniors under their
wing and taught them how to use computers. The end result was an
anthology of plants, citing their uses, descriptions and history.
Elizabeth has discovered that by emphasizing physical, emotional,
mental and spiritual growth among the seniors, their lives are more
stable, social, healthy and vocal. Strivers has nourished the talents
of the members and given them a sense of authenticity.
Last year Elizabeth needed to take a break from the group to care for
her 95-year-old mother in Minneapolis. She learned two very
important things: 1) the knowledge she gained from the CPG
courses gave her the perspective, tools and confidence to care for her
mother and deal with family members; 2) Strivers had fulfilled her
initial aim—they did very well without her because they were
dynamic and self reliant.
CPG enrollees and UW students who are interested in learning more
about Strivers, as well as opportunities for internships and other
activities, can contact Mercer Island Community Center at 206-236-
3545. We congratulate Elizabeth on completing the CPG and for
applying the knowledge and skills gained in this program to her
work with the Strivers.
Kudos
Marty Richards, MSW, CPG Instructor,
and affiliate assistant professor, UW
School of Social Work, was co-recipient of
the ASA leadership award at the first Joint
Conference of the American Society on
Aging and the National Council on Aging
in New Orleans. The leadership award is
presented annually to a member who has
made significant contributions to ASA as
well as to the field of aging.
Dr. Charles Emlet, Assistant Professor in
the School of Social Work at the University
of Washington, Tacoma, is one of ten
outstanding scholars selected to improve
geriatric social work in the United States.
The John A. Hartford Foundation of New
York City and the Gerontological Society
of America bestow this prestigious award
to professionals in the field of aging who
succeed in improving the well-being of
older adults.
Over the next two years, Dr. Emlet will
participate in institutes and workshops to
further enhance his research, teaching and
leadership skills in geriatrics. As part of
the program, Dr. Emlet also will be
working with the Pierce County AIDS
Foundation to explore sources of social
support for older adults with HIV/AIDS.
The Hartford Geriatric Social Work
Faculty Scholars Program is a $5.4 million
dollar project established to ensure that the
country will have the necessary pool of
trained and skilled geriatric social workers
by creating faculty leaders specialized in
geriatric research and teaching. The
Faculty Scholars Program is a major step
toward increasing the visibility and
desirability of geriatric social work; a
program objective is to increase commitment
to training social workers who then
can meet the growing and specialized needs of an aging population.
The John A. Hartford Foundation is a private philanthropic agency
established in 1929; the majority of the Foundation’s grants are
directed to its Aging and Health Program which addresses two major
areas: (1) academic geriatrics and training, (2) integrating and
improving services for elders. The Gerontological Society of
America (GSA), the national organization of researchers and
educators in the field of aging, is dedicated to the promotion of the
scientific study of aging. GSA encourages exchanges among
researchers and practitioners and fosters the use of gerontological
research in forming public policy.
Dr. Emlet was featured in the IoA Fall 2000 newsletter.
Beth Cordova, a recent CPG graduate and IoA intern, was named
Director of Resident Services for the new independent/assisted living
facility, “The Summit at First Hill.” (see story)
Congratulations to Providence Mt. St. Vincent’s in West Seattle for
being named Organization of the Year by Municipal League of King
County.
New Geriatric Mental Health Certificate
CPG students who are professionals in the mental health field
and who want to increase their understanding of the mental
health needs of older adults may want to consider the Certificate
Program in Geriatric Mental Health offered through UW
Educational Outreach. Students in the program will acquire
important skills and practical tools in diagnosing and treating
adults with acute and chronic psychiatric disorders. The
program has been designed by University of Washington
faculty and experienced clinicians with the goal of increasing
student’s expertise in providing mental health services to older
adults. The UW School of Social Work has approved all
courses and instructors. Psychologists and social workers
enrolled in the program may use contact hours from these
courses to fulfill Washington State continuing education
requirements, but the courses do not carry any UW academic
credit.
Some of the courses offered are: Diagnosing and Treating
Older Adults with Chronic Mental Illness; Helping Older
Adults Manage Grief and Loss; Dementias: Diagnosis and
Family Support; Working with Mood and Thought Disorders in
Older Adults; and Navigating through Multiple Systems with
Older Adults.
Mental health professionals interested in this certificate
program are encouraged to attend an information meeting on
September 12; location to be announced. For further information,
please call Mike Schweisthal at (206) 616-0783 or email:
certif2@ese.washington.edu.
Beth Cordova
Beth Cordova lives with certainty: she knows that every weekday
morning when she enters the lobby of “The Summit at First Hill”
there will be a group of elders eager to chat with her—and she is
eager to chat with them. Beth believes building relationships is the
core of her role as Director of Resident Services at The Summit, an
independent and assisted living senior community on Seattle’s First
Hill that offers services in a traditional Jewish living environment.
Beth graduated from the CPG last year and credits the three core
courses in helping her prepare for her new position. The Biology of
Aging provided an overview of the aging process and functional
changes associated with normal aging. Beth found it helpful in
identifying patterns in older persons’ behaviors. The Psychology of
Aging prepared her for understanding transition issues older
persons face, such as loss, depression and disorientation as, well as
adjusting to the end of life. Beth finds it most challenging and, at
the same time, rewarding to assist the nearly 100 residents to realize
and redefine their new place in life. She assists them to discover
what might be getting in the way of making a transition to this new
living environment so each resident can achieve a semblance of
empowerment. She listens carefully, helping residents identify
concerns, then reflects back to them these obstacles. In Social and
Cultural Aspects of Aging, Beth saw the difficulties older persons
have when grappling with the reality of change, especially how to
feel safe in this new environment. One aspect of aging that many
find especially difficult is the loss of reciprocity in their relationships.
Elders often find themselves as receivers of care rather than
caregivers—a place where they found much value and self worth.
Beth helps them to find value in their present situation.
The CPG elective course, Functional Performance of Aging, gave
Beth concrete tools to enhance daily living among elders encouraging
them to maintain a strong sense of self and independence. She
works with each resident on adaptive devices suited to their wants,
needs and especially their timing.
Beth believes in sympathy—a pat on the hand can go a long way to
assuage the feelings of chaos, exhaustion and sometimes, regret,
which accompany moving in later life. An extra five minutes of
listening can calm feelings of confusion, resentment and grief.
The Activities Director and Beth work together to plan appropriate
enrichment activities for the residents to ease the process of aging
in place. The activities stress safety, privacy and establishing a
rhythm of interdependence.
Last summer Beth was an intern at the IoA. We congratulate Beth
in completing the CPG and finding a professional position so
clearly suited to her skills and talents!
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multidisciplinary
gerontology education (now by distance learning) 