EDUCATING ENTRY-LEVEL OCCUPATIONAL-THERAPY STUDENTS IN GERONTOLOGY

The need for gerontic occupational therapists is increasing as the number of elders increases. The practice of including gerontologic content in occupational therapy entry-level curricula is relatively new. This article provides a rationale for including gerontologic content in entry-level occupational therapy curricula and presents the results of a brief survey conducted in November 1990 of all accredited and developing entry-level professional occupational therapy programs in the United States. Seventy-one percent of the entry-level programs responded. All of the responding programs included some gerontologic content in their curricula, and 82% of the responding programs indicated that the amount of gerontologic content in the required curriculum had increased in the past 5 years. Other gerontologic elements examined were courses offered and topics included in entry-level curricula, textbooks used, and gerontic fieldwork requirements.