Experiential Learning of Geriatric Medical and Nursing Education and Training in Japan

Abstract

Experiential learning is the process by which we acquire and embed new knowledge from experience and subsequent reflection as theorized by David Kolb in 1984. In utilizing this concept to accommodate a growing population of elderly in Japan, Japanese medical and nursing schools have begun offering outpatient education programs in the homes of the elderly and community clinics that contrast more conventional inpatient clinical settings, like hospitals. The purpose is to engage students with novel patients, conditions, and experiences, to better prepare them for an older patient demographic in various settings. In each of the programs discussed, students were interviewed by researchers in Japan and provided qualitative data reflecting on their experiences. In analysis of the experiential learning value of each of these programs, most students reported that such experiences provided them with new perspectives regarding patient autonomy, the lifestyle of the elderly, the role of familial and communal support, and so on. Providing significance to these new perspectives is the gradual transition to home care and integrated community-based care models for the elderly in both Japan and the United States to mitigate the effects of a rapidly aging population.