WMTW8 features COM's Learning by Living nursing home immersion program

WMTW8 News on Sept. 14, 2011 featured a story on the 51小黄车College of Osteopathic Medicine's Learning by Living nursing home immersion program, designed by Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., director of geriatric research. 

Although most participants in the program are medical students or other health professionals, the WMTW story focused on Evan Carroll, a 29-year-old Portland architect who has dreams of designing nursing home and hopes the experience will give him a better understanding of what nursing home clients may need in the future. Carroll was admitted to the Maine Veterans Home with the diagnosis of congestive heart failure and left-sided weakness after suffering a stroke. 

"When I get a list of requirements from a client for a nursing home I will have insight on what those requirements actually mean." Carroll explained.

The Learning by Living program seeks to give students and others a first-hand experience of living as an older adult with a health condition, Gugliucci explains.

"In the end, these participants will hopefully become better care providers because of this personal experience and unique connection they have made living as a resident," Gugliucci said.

The program has been placing students in nursing homes since 2005 and has seen 28 students complete the program thus far. Gugliucci said the experience allows students to see what the lives of geriatric patients are like on a day-to-day basis and also allows participating nursing homes to review patient care practices ranging from medical to food service to supplies such as toiletries.

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