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YSU to Offer Master’s Degree in Gerontology
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University has launched a new master’s program, this one in gerontology -- how human beings grow old and cope with old age -- the interim dean of the graduate school, Brian DePoy, announced Tuesday.
The program at YSU -- the first graduate classes in the discipline begin in late August -- is “the only one of its kind in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania,” YSU said in making the announcement, and will take full-time students a minimum of four semesters to complete, says Daniel Van Dussan, associate professor of gerontology. He has been at YSU seven years and will direct the graduate program.
Up to a dozen students per year are expected to enroll in the new master’s program. Van Dussan is working to have funds set aside for graduate assistantships.
As the population of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania grows older and the average age of residents of the region is well above the national average, the need for people with degrees in gerontology grows as well. “A master’s degree in gerontology may soon be essential in attended to the country’s aging population,” Van Dussen said in a prepared statement.
Unlike nursing and social work, the program in gerontology is designed for individuals pursuing research- and policy-related careers that examine how people age. Graduates would be well-suited for careers related to policy in the Social Security Administration, Medicaid and Medicare, the Veterans Administration, Alzheimer’s clinics, the Area Agency on Aging or a hospice.
Students who earn a master’s in gerontology could work side by side with a nurse social worker to observe “normal and abnormal changes” in the patients, Van Dussen says.
At first this master’s program will consist of classroom instruction on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and evenings, Van Dussen says. He is working on how to offer online and hybrid instruction.
The program offers an interdisciplinary approach, Van Dussan, that allows students to view older Americans from several perspectives including biological, psychological and sociological.
Some 13% of the U.S. population is 65 and older. In Ohio that figure is 14% and the Mahoning Valley it’s closer to 18%, Van Dusssan notes. In Trumbull County the figure is 17.5% and in Columbiana County 16%. Nearly 15.5 of Pennsylvania residents are 65 and older with the figure reaching 18.5% in Mercer County and 18.8% in Lawrence.
“The demographic profile of this region indicates a great deal of unmet need and under-education” among the professionals who deal with the aging population here, Van Dussan observes.
SOURCE: YSU News Service
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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