What is it like to live every day as an older adult facing one or more age-related health challenges?

The ASiST (Aging Simulation Sensitivity Training) Kit gives students and professionals critical insight into this important question.

 

 

 

ASiST in Action

 

Connie Baker, MS, co-creator of the Wong-Baker Pain Scale, observes as a gerontology graduate student tries to sort medications while wearing lenses designed to mimic age-related vision loss.

 

Each ASiST Kit provides experiences simulating age-related:

  • vision loss
  • hearing loss
  • neuropathy
  • aphasia
  • mobility/balance issues

ASiST relies on transformative, evidence-based learning strategies (many of them developed by the OkGEC, a pioneer in aging-sensitivity training).

An ASiST training starts with a brief (10-15 min.), overview of the most common age-related health challenges and how they affect elders.

After that, participants break into small groups for exercises designed to simulate (to the greatest degree possible in a classroom or training setting) what it's like to handle everyday tasks while dealing with such challenges.

Following their "hands-on" experiences, participants gather
to discuss how age-related health challenges may impact elders' autonomy and ability to live independently.

Together, they consider solutions and supports currently available to elders - and brainstorm other potentially successful interventions.

Sharing their experiences with their peers helps them process lessons learned in a meaningful, memorable way - even as the training directs their focus to positive problem-solving.

As a result, they become not only more compassionate in their work. They become more effective.

______________________

From the Director...

"For more than 20 years, the Oklahoma Geriatric Education Center has conducted highly successful aging sensitivity training exercises with medical students, graduate students, and health care professionals.

We are very excited that this transformative learning experience will now be accessible to educators and learners anywhere in the world."

Thomas A. Teasdale, DPH
Professor, OU College of Medicine
Reynolds Dept. of Geriatric Medicine
Director: OkGEC

 

Ready To Order Your Kit?

Download a Order form Here!

ASiST Kit Contents

Each ASiST Kit includes:

  • A concise Facilitator's Manual
  • A brief PowerPoint presentation
  • Supplies for 5 Simulation Stations:
    • Bag of raw popcorn
    • 10 ear plugs
    • 2 dexterity panels
    • 5 pairs of gloves
    • 1 button hook
    • 2 pens
    • Assortment of vision impairment glasses
    • 2 pillboxes
    • 8 pill bottles (with assorted beans as pills)
    • 1 folding cane
    • 1 ankle restrictor

And we are offering them for the price of the supplies and the program materials: $225.
(plus $25 domestic shipping, slightly more for international destinations)

The ASiST Program is Appropriate for Training...

  • Medical students
  • Graduate students
  • Nurses
  • CNAs & CMAs
  • Physical Therapists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Social Workers
  • EMS Personnel
  • Other First Responders
  • Community Groups
  • Hospice Volunteers
  • Aging Services Staff
  • Therapists & counselors
  • Clergy / Chaplains

And anyone else who works with older adults
(or plans to work with them in the future)!

Doug Reed, PhD, and Kim Sharp, M.Ed. get in touch with what it's like to face neuropathic challenges.

Learning Objectives

By the end of their ASiST experience, your learners will be able to:

  • Demonstrate increased sensitivity to sensory loss sometimes associated with aging

  • Identify components of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)