Page 52 - IJPS-8-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Gerontology education in Malta

human. It also proposed that students have contact with and the multidimensional issues in ageing on one hand,
healthy as well as frail older patients to avoid developing and structural barriers that impeded interdisciplinary
an inaccurate stereotype of older persons as being knowledge development and translation on the other,
considered synonymous for ill persons. Unfortunately, have hindered gerontology’s development as an integrative
such recommendations are still to be implemented in the discipline. However, in recent years, one has witnessed the
department’s geriatric curriculum. development of unique social, psychological, and biological
theories (Bengston and Settersten, 2016); specialist research
4. Conclusions methodology focusing on longitudinal life course data

Given the global trends in population ageing, one can never through distinctive strategies such as event history analysis
overemphasize the need for a workforce of professionals and hierarchical linear modelling (Weil, 2017); and formal
trained in gerontology, geriatrics, and dementia care. organizations that promote professional socialization and
Although each geographical region and continent has information dissemination (Formosa, 2021). For instance,
certainly its own special quandaries, “each country [require] the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics
people with adequate knowledge and skills to care for its now includes as much as 84 members amid increasing
older population and to create opportunities for older degree programs and specialized publications from 72
adults to prosper in later life and continue to make valuable different countries with a combined membership of more
contributions to their communities” (Silverstein and than 50,000 professionals and students (International
Fitzgerald, 2017, p. 1). Hence, it is not surprising that over Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, n.d.).
the past decade, it has become more common to witness A second key issue is related to the journey of
calls for occupational positions, issued by both welfare gerontology education concerns the varied efforts by
service agencies and universities, noting a preference for scholars to establish gerontology as a bona fide profession.
a qualification in gerontology or a related field to ageing There is no doubt that specialists with qualifications in
studies. This does not, however, mean that gerontology has gerontology education have the appropriate training and
become a well-established career path, and a Masters or skills to become employed professionals in the field. After
Doctorate in Gerontology still does not guarantee its holder all, “the knowledge and competencies gained through
a smooth entry in either ageing services, gerontological gerontology education and training is unique, specialized,
care and rehabilitation, or academia. The key challenge and distinguishable from that of other disciplines and
facing holders of academic qualifications in gerontology professions [so] they should be brought together under a
is competition from more traditional disciplines, since professional framework” (Pianosi and Payne, 2014, p. 835).
those completing more traditional programs tend to be It is only professionals that can affect the quality of care for
more identified with their main disciplines, which have older people because only they hold advanced proficiencies
many more members, and larger organizations to serve and academic preparation. Moreover, it is professional
the membership. At the same time, the development of bodies that positively affect the public’s perceptions and
broad-spectrum master degrees and doctorates, such as in expectations about standards of care, particularly in
public health, also put gerontology education on the back contrast to other social and health-care providers who
foot since such programs are more attractive to potential have not had enough training in gerontology. This absence
candidates as they promise potential employment in a of a professional status for gerontology is a key reason
wide range of fields ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics. whereby students steer away from pursuing studies in
Overcoming such a state of affairs, requires three strategies ageing since “agencies that provide services for the aged do
– namely, establishing gerontology as a discipline in its not require an academic background in aging studies for
own right, founding gerontology as a bona fide profession, employment” (Maiden, Horowitz, and Howe, 2005, p. 5).
and accrediting gerontology to mitigate against the fact One can mitigate against this quandary if gerontology
that gerontology graduates are at a serious competitive academics associate more effectively with prospective
disadvantage compared with graduates from programs that employers and professional organizations, to clarify the
hold a licensure agreement – strategies that are elaborated skills and competencies that graduates in gerontology,
upon in the final parts of this article. geriatrics, and dementia care possess, so that gerontology
The field’s most pressing objective is to establish degree recipients can expect to receive consideration in
gerontology as a discipline in its own right, something that is hiring decisions.
surely long overdue. The field has long been in a rapid stage of One key obstacle in professionalizing gerontology is
development and the discussion on gerontology’s evolution that most graduates in gerontology education remain
and future cannot be postponed any longer. Admittedly, intimately and steadfastly connected with their primary
the tension between traditional disciplinary perspectives professional roles and occupations. As it was argued,

Volume 8 Issue 1 (2022) 46 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i1.1311