Management of the Late Adult Life Project

Code:

MTP15

Acronym:

GPVAT

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2016/2017 - 1S (since 12-09-2016 to 04-02-2017)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Psychology Themes

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MTP	10	Official Curricular Structure	1	-	6	54	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

To promote the understanding of late adulthood as a critical period with respect to its main, normative and non-normative, life events and transitions.

To facilitate the exploration of a set of theoretical models, notions and concepts that allow to identify, frame and meet the needs and tasks of structuring the life project of late adults, in a future projection perpetive.

To offer opportunities for students' direct contact with different settings, social responses, professionals and practices oriented toward the late adult.

To encourage the acquisition of action planning skills which can be used in the organization of initiatives to support the late adult in the harmonization and enrichment of their life project aiming the enhancement of their development opportunities and the diversification of their sources of personal fulfillment and life satisfaction.

To identify and discuss the main ethical issues involved in supporting the management of life project in late adulthood.

Learning outcomes and competences

To understand late adulthood as a critical period with respect to its main, normative and non-normative, life events and transitions.

To master a set of theoretical models, notions and concepts that allow to identify, frame and meet the needs and tasks of structuring the life project of late adults, in a future projection perpetive.

To acquire action planning skills which can be used in the organization of initiatives to support the late adult in the harmonization and enrichment of their life project aiming the enhancement of their development opportunities and the diversification of their sources of personal fulfillment and life satisfaction.

To recognize and to know how to deal with the main ethical issues involved in supporting the management of life project in late adulthood.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Knowledges in the field of gerontology and / or Adult (Development) Psychology acquired through academic training, further training and / or previous work experience.

Tacit knowledge and subjective representations about theaging process acquired informally through personal life experiences.

Program

1. Lifespan and Life course perspetives 

2. Main events and life transitions in late adulthood: retirement, becoming grandparent, widowhood, institutionalization ( care and / or be cared)

3. The notions of welfare, quality of life, meaning of life and life satisfaction

4. Psychosocial theories of successful aging: disengagement theory, activity theory , continuity theory, and SOC theory

5. The concepts of projet, life structure, lifestyle, identity and role salience

6. The models of Reconstructive Exploration of Vocational Commitment and Life Designing

7. Projection in the future : the definition of goals and the choice of relevant activities (e.g., social / recreational, educational, civic, sports, etc.)

8. Strategies for supporting the life project management in late adulthood

9. Ethical aspects related to the supporting of life project management in late adulthood

Mandatory literature

Cabral, A. V. (coord.); Processos de envelhecimento em Portugal. Usos do tempo, redes sociais e condições de vida., 2013
Cabral, A. V. (coord.); Envelhecimento ativo em Portugal. Trabalho, reforma, lazer e redes sociais. , 2014
Erikson, E. H.; Oito idades do Homem. Infância e Sociedade., 1976
J. Brandtstädter & R. M. Lerner (Eds.); Action and self development: theory and research through the life span., 1999
Menezes, I. ; Intervenção comunitária: Uma perspectiva psicológica., 2010
Nascimento, I. ; Tempo que Falta, Tempo que Resta, Tempo que Sobra: Dinâmicas Psicológicas da Vivência de Tempos e Ritmos na Transição para a Reforma. In Atas do X Congresso Internacional de Formação para o Trabalho - Norte de Portugal/Galiza, 2008
Ribeiro, O. & Paul, C. (coord.) ; Manual de Envelhecimento Ativo, 2011
Ribeiro, O. & Paul, C. (coord.) ; Manual de Gerontologia. Aspetos biocomportamentais, psicológicos e sociais do envelhecimento., 2012
Rodriguez, A & Gamble, D. ; Dimensions of leisure for life: individuals and society. , 2010

Teaching methods and learning activities

It will be adopted a (particip) ative methodology that allows each student to build new knowledge starting from their own knowledges, experiences and views about the topics that will be addressed. Some of the classes will have the presence of invited professionals (psychologists and non-psychologists) who will be asked to report specific aspects of their practice with late adults.

keywords

Social sciences > Ethics in social sciences
Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Developmental psychology
Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Counselling psychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Defesa pública de dissertação, de relatório de projeto ou estágio, ou de tese	10,00
Trabalho de campo	35,00
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	25,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	5,00
Elaboração de projeto	15,00
Elaboração de relatório/dissertação/tese	15,00
Estudo autónomo	72,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Trabalho de campo	25,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Student's must achieve at least grade 10 in final grade. Each student should be able to be individually assessed with respect to each of the components of the distributed evaluation and must obtain a minimum grade of 8 in each one of them.

Calculation formula of final grade

Students’ final grade will be estimated considering four components:

1. Quality of the student performance in the design and implementation of the fieldwork (35%).

2. Quality of the projet inspired from the fieldwork (25%).

3. Quality of the student performance in the oral/public presentation and discussion of the fieldwork process and results (10%).

4. Quality of the written text integrating/articulating the fieldwork and the projet work (30%).

All grades will be expressed on a scale from 0 to 20.

Internship work/project

Each student should design a project aiming the introduction of some degree of variation in people's life and/or in the dynamics of the contexts that they have had the opportunity to know through the fieldwork.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Students in this condition (those who benefits from class dismiss) are subject to the same plan of ativities plan, assessement and grade improvement system of the other students.

Classification improvement

For final grade improvement or for 2nd chance evaluation, students should develop a writen individual work about a particular subject to be defined by the professor from which it will be assigned to the student a new global grade.

Observations

The occupation component "Presentation / discussion of a scientific work" includes the presentation in class (at 12.10 and 19.10) of a literature review synthesis focused in one of the following topics available for choice: retirement, becoming grandparent, widowhood, institutionalization (care and / or be cared). This activity will be held in small groups and might be seen as preliminary to the fieldwork.