DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE PROGRAM IN APPLIED GERONTOLOGY

The Graduate Council has approved a proposal by the Department of Applied Gerontology and the School of Community Service to offer a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree with a major in Applied Gerontology. Applied Gerontology emphasizes learning about and scientific investigation of how society cares for older persons and delivers needed services to them.

The primary goal of the proposed degree program is to produce graduates who will exercise leadership in the development, monitoring, evaluation, and expansion of innovative health and human services programs for the elderly. Current master's-level programs in the Department of Applied Gerontology prepare students to assume administrative responsibilities in individual long-term care facilities, retirement communities, senior centers, and similar programs for the aged. In contrast, the Ph.D. program will provide the analytical and research skills along with the perspective and vision necessary to enable graduates to create, operate, and regulate the large-scale, complex, multilevel service systems of the future. It is anticipated that only a few graduates will choose teaching as a career path.

These doctoral graduates will play a critical role in meeting the needs of Texas seniors, their families, and the state as our population grows dramatically over the coming decades. The population of Texas, the United States, and the world is rapidly growing older. Currently, Texans 60 and over account for 13% (2.7 million) of the state population. It is estimated that by 2030 this population will grow to 22% (7.5 million) of the state’s population. This growth will be most evident among the very old where the problems of chronic disease and disability are most pronounced. The number of elderly over 75 years of age is expected to more than double (from 800,000 to over 2 million) by the year 2030. These individuals can be expected to require extensive public and private health and social services. Texans over the age of 65, representing 11% of the state’s population, already account for 15% of Medicaid recipients and 33% of Medicaid costs. As the number of aged Texans grows, the costs of delivering health and social services will escalate rapidly unless innovative approaches to service delivery can be found. This problem will be especially pressing in the Metroplex, which is home to the largest population of Texans over 60 (616 thousand), followed by Houston (491 thousand), and San Antonio (326 thousand).

Extensive interviews, focus groups, and surveys with alumni of the Department of Applied Gerontology, long-term care program administrators, and members of professional organizations show, without doubt, the importance of advanced education and training for success in this expanding health and social service arena. Inquiries about the availability of a Ph.D. program in the region are received weekly by the department.

The growing needs of the aged in Texas and the nation can only be met by increasing the number of professionals with the knowledge and applied research capability to take on the vast array of aging issues that will confront us in the future.

Specific educational objectives of the proposed doctoral program include:

• Comprehensive knowledge of theory and social science research methods;
• Understanding the challenges posed by rapid population aging in our communities;
• Assessing the health and social well being of the growing elderly population;
• Determining the nature and extent of the elderly’s service needs;
• Designing service delivery systems that meet the needs of the elderly and their families;
• Developing strategies for integrating discrete services and promoting continuity of care;
• Evaluating the quality and effectiveness of existing and future service models;
• Creating needed services through financing mechanisms that promote efficiency;
• Formulating responsible public and corporate policy in the field of aging.

The 1995 White House Conference on Aging identified priorities that demonstrate the need for Ph.D. trained professionals capable of developing systems for the elderly. The proposed program will equip its graduates to address these priorities in the following ways:

• Issues related to the strengthening of the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid systems and long-term care;

• The program will prepare graduates to: more closely match the provision of services to the service needs of the aged; introduce capitation and managed care concepts into the long-term care system; and develop ways to pool public and private funding streams, including Medicare and Medicaid, to provide comprehensive coverage for needed services.

• Issues related to home and community based care;

• The program will prepare graduates to: create a continuum of community-based services to support elders living at home; create innovative housing arrangements for seniors requiring special services, such as adult day care, assisted living, and respite care; develop mechanisms to coordinate the diverse services required by dependent elders; and design innovative systems to meet the expanding needs of rural elderly, a rapidly growing segment.

• Issues related to nutrition, housing, transportation, senior centers, and elder abuse prevention;

• The program will prepare graduates to: develop better methods to assure that these services are targeted effectively to reach the very old, low income, minority, and other high risk seniors; integrate these services with those for other populations with special needs, i.e the disabled, the mentally ill, etc.; and link these services with community support structures and volunteer programs.

• Issues related to research on aging, as an investment that will reap substantial long-term cost savings in the provision of services;

• The program will prepare graduates to: assess the service needs of older populations; evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and adequacy of existing programs; construct information systems relevant to providing, financing, and insuring the quality of elder care; analyze policies based on the evaluation of both primary and secondary data sources; and develop strategies for integrating research results into the day-to-day operations of health care and social systems serving the elderly.

• Issues related to the two-fold increase in the number of minority elderly by the year 2030 and the need to insure that the programs are more sensitive to this dynamic.

• The program will prepare graduates to: understand the epidemiology of the health and social problems of minority elders; develop systems that will assure financial and geographic accessibility; and provide services that are socially and culturally acceptable to these elders.

The facilities, equipment, and faculty are in place at UNT to offer a doctorate worthy of national recognition with benefits to accrue to senior Texans and to the elderly of the nation. The administrative structure exists to implement the proposed degree, and no new faculty members are required for the first two years of the new program. Six new courses will be added to support the curriculum. The university administration, Department of Applied Gerontology faculty, and faculty in other departments who teach gerontology courses are committed to developing the proposed program that promotes both the education and research mission of the University of North Texas.

The proposed Ph.D. in Applied Gerontology represents a logical extension of the Department's degree program offerings into an area where it is well prepared to offer academic course work and for which there is external market demand. The proposed Ph.D. degree in Applied Gerontology is consistent with the UNT mission as a comprehensive institution of higher education committed to excellence in teaching, basic and applied research, and public service.

This degree program will be unique in Texas and will capitalize on years of development in the field of studies in aging and gerontology at UNT and in the nation. With the addition of this Ph.D. program, the University of North Texas System will continue as a national leader in gerontological education and research by combining the strengths of UNT-Denton’s focus on social, economic, and behavioral aging issues and solutions and the UNT Health Science Center’s Geriatric programs that focus on health and medical issues. The addition of this Ph.D. program should expand the research and educational collaboration between faculty and students on the Denton and Ft. Worth campuses.

The President recommends, with the concurrence of the Chancellor, that the Board of Regents authorize the Vice President for Academic Affairs to seek authorization from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the proposed Ph.D. in Applied Gerontology.