Improving undergraduate competence in multicultural gerontology practice with fresh pedagogies: A digital storytelling case example

Abstract

Building on a student-led digital storytelling project, the author suggests that expanding definitions of two core constructs of social work education and practice, experiential learning and cultural competence, can improve outcomes for diverse older clients by increasing competence in multicultural gerontology practice. Using a variety of media, digital storytelling focuses on stories that are not often heard, like those of diverse older adults. Student-led projects provide opportunities for students to engage with experiential learning, a high-impact pedagogy. Beyond describing a one-semester digital storytelling project that occurred in an undergraduate gerontology practice course, the article shares findings from the project's evaluation. The evaluation yielded recommendations, such as encouraging social work faculty to provide opportunities for experiential learning across the curriculum, and improving competence in multicultural gerontology practice through creative pedagogies. Ultimately, the author suggests that fresh pedagogical approaches that expand core social work constructs can improve outcomes for diverse older adults by promoting multicultural gerontology practice competence.

Digital Storytelling as an Intervention for Older Adults: A Scoping Review

“…They also participated in a digital life history project [2,3,10,25,30] to share their family roots and traditions with future generations. Students [2][3][4]10,23,25] and spouses [23,25,30,31,35] who accompanied older adults in these tasks, and the older adults themselves, reported a greater sense of belonging and strengthened relationships [2][3][4]10] after performing the tasks. The social associations among the participating students improved [25].…”

“…Older adults shared stories through DST with families, young people, and caregivers. After attending DST exhibitions, many community residents reported that they better understood and connected with the older adults [2][3][4]10,11,[23][24][25][32][33][34].…”

“…The effects of DST intervention on older adults with or without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were framed as follows (see Table 3). Mitigating negative ageism [3,23,25,32,33] 5…”

“…The DST method was perceived as simple, effortless, and easy, thus enabling older adults to learn new things and undertake creative challenges that gave them a sense of pride and fulfillment [11,23,26,27,34]. DST allowed them to express themselves better than before, experience more pleasure, and be confident [4,[10][11][12]23,24,26,34,35]. Moreover, they reported feeling livelier [4,25,29,30].…”

“…Thirteen studies reported that the DST intervention helped older adults feel more connected with others than before. They enjoyed sharing their stories, talking to others, and engaging in meaningful interactions [2,4,23]. They also participated in a digital life history project [2,3,10,25,30] to share their family roots and traditions with future generations.…”