Empowering students in community care of the elderly through Action Learning

Abstract

This Action Learning Project aimed to empower nursing students' by having them address the information needs of older persons in the community. By identifying the health concepts and service needs of this client group, students engaged in repeated cycles of reflection, assessment, planning. implementation and evaluation. They were facilitated by their teachers to focus on three aspects of their roles in the community - a problem solver, a resource person and an advocate. The effectiveness of the project is appraised by considering two major aspects: (1) learning effectiveness with regard to (a) students' views of own learning. (b) students' views of own involvement; (c) knowledge and skills of transferring knowledge into practice, (d) social skills and attitudes; and (2) process of self-empowerment on (a) addressing the identified problem, (b) taking roles as client advocates, and (c) resource persons. Data were obtained from a close-ended questionnaire, student journals, records from informal meetings and discussion between students and teachers, as well as the teachers' journals and reflections. Most students appreciated the process of learning by tackling the community problems identified by them. They had a deep feeling that they actually could do something for the community when they finally produced health resource guides for their clients. Although many students perceived that the Action Learning Project demanded a heavier workload than a conventional health education project, nearly all of them found it meaningful and worthwhile. It can be concluded that through active engagement in the Action Learning processes and through community participation, students were facilitated to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in the delivery of health services to older persons.