Members of the Positively Aging® Program at the Health Science Center have the opportunity to improve lives of individuals in China when they conduct a three-day workshop in Guangzhou, China, March 20-22.
More than 200 Chinese school teachers and education graduate students are expected to attend seminars and hands-on classes, collaboratively taught by six members of the Positively Aging® Program, describing the importance of a healthy lifestyle and explaining different methods of teaching students.
The increasingly obese population in China is catching up to the number of obese people in America, with numbers in China reaching close to 200 million. Since the history of China does not include much concern about weight gain, school-aged children lack knowledge about proper eating habits and regular exercise.
“Education in China is focused mainly on preparing students for exams,” said Yan Liu, program analyst in the Positively Aging® Program. “Chinese students don’t learn about maintaining healthy lifestyles like American students do.”
For example, Chinese students are required to memorize structures and functions of human organs, but do not learn the physiological phenomena of aging.
With the help of the Positively Aging® team, the detailed workshops will include sessions about obesity, lifestyle differences between Americans and Chinese and intergenerational relationships. For instance, pointing out similarities between children and the elderly, instead of focusing on differences, is likely to promote positive aging. Seminars also will cover the 10 year evolution of the Positively Aging® Program and the responsible conduct of research.
“We will tell the teachers how to design and evaluate curricula to meet their students’ needs,” said Cheryl Blalock, research associate in the Positively Aging® Program. “We have created several methods of incorporating the Positively Aging® program into lessons taught here. We’d like to be able to offer that in China as well.”
The Positively Aging® curricula will help Chinese teachers integrate more hands-on activities into their lesson plans. Since Chinese students are accustomed to lectures, different methods of learning, including unique activities involving student participation, may help spark their interests.
Members of the Positively Aging® Program who planned the workshop and will travel to China include Michael J. Lichtenstein, M.D., M.S., professor of medicine/geriatrics and principal investigator; Carolyn Marshall, Ph.D., M.P.H., project director; Linda Pruski, educational development specialist; Wen Wang, M.D. Ph.D., clinical assistant professor department of urology; Yan Liu, program analyst; and Cheryl Blalock, research associate.
The Positively Aging® Program is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Research Resources and the National Institute on Aging, and the Frederic C. Bartter General Clinical Research Center.
China South Normal University, Center for Study of Psychology Application invited the members of the Positively Aging® Program to conduct the workshop. All travel expenses are provided by Yunnan Daguan Advertisement Co. Ltd.
