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Last week I taught one of my half-day introductory classes on eldercare planning at a local church.  There were about 20 people in the class.  I was pleased that there were several family groups that attended together.

The problem with teaching this class is that there is not enough time to cover all the topics well, even at the introductory level.  I try to supplement the teaching with handouts that can be read and used once the student leaves the class.  For last week’s class, I created a package of handouts so that the class would not be distracted by paper distributions throughout the class.  I had these copied and collated several days before the class.  But, then I sabotaged myself by bringing extra articles and other handouts that I felt sure they would want.  So I ended up handing out extra paper anyhow.  I am sure made the class feel more disorganized that I wished.

Today I talked with a friend who had helped her mother prepare an agenda for a church sponsored meeting about aging and eldercare.  She told me that when she saw the original agenda she knew there was too much in the course.  The attendees wanted to learn about eldercare, but the guest presenter had included a large section on basic financial planning and an overview of various investment types.  Of course, it turned out that the presenter was a financial planner who put the spotlight on the areas where he could get future business.

My learnings from these two cases are as follows:

Assemble documents in a folder or book and distribute at the appropriate time in the class.  Do not continually add new material during the class.  It distracts an audience that is already struggling with a topic that makes them anxious.

Less is more.  This is so hard to manage.  There is so much material to cover, and I always want to give complete coverage of the topic.  I improved in last week’s class by being very clear up front that the class could only cover a high level overview in three hours.  But I still tried to pack in too much material.

Make sure the content matches the advertised topic.  It is easy for a presenter to offer a timely topic and then take the presentation in a self-serving direction. If a presenter is doing a free presentation, it is fair that contact information and a bio is provided to the attendees, but prospecting for clients should be discouraged.

Break out the various topics for eldercare planning and aging into separate, one-time classes. That way attendees can assimilate one topic at a time.

Eldercare planning should be taught in communities, continuing education, and adult education classes, not as part of traditional educational programs.

Per last week’s blog on “Aging and Denial”, I think it is going to be a while before these kind of classes fill up.  At a certain point there will be so many people who need to get up to speed in a hurry that the classes will be in demand.  That time may be five years away. Until then, I will teach what I can, where I can, working on building awareness one person, one group, or one class at a time.

Do you have a “Better Way to Teach Planning for Eldercare and Aging?”

Copyright TheNewElder 2012