Course Description - "Law & Aging"
Welcome to the world of Elder Law. "Law & Aging"
is the study of medical, social, financial and legal issues related
with aging. As our elders age, their health, legal, and personal
needs change. At that point, they and their families will need
legal and health care advice to adjust their lives.
Law & Aging introduces the student to advance directives,
wills, guardianships, patients' rights in healthcare decision
making, entitlement programs, managed care and long-term care
insurance, viatical settlements, managed care, long term-care
insurance, living facilities for the elderly, financial planning,
social security, elder abuse, and resources for the elder law
team.
The format of the course is to read a chapter in the textbook,
discuss various topics, post your analysis under a "threaded
discussion", prepare written assignments, report on
visits made to various agencies, and individuals involved in our
health care system, and take quizzes on each chapter you read.
The mechanics of the course, and what you will need to do, are
described in detail below.
This 18 -week course may be delivered in the customary "on
campus" manner, or may be taken "online". It is
designed to give the student familiarity with the
substance of Elder Law as it applies to "Law & Aging"
You will learn to "think critically" in law, and in
the area of Elder Law. You will learn how to draft various legal
documents including advance directives, wills, and other relevant
legal documents to this type of law. You will also learn how to
do legal
research in the area of Elder Law and "Law and Aging".
You will improve your
legal writing skills and legal drafting/writing skills. Finally,
you will improve your study
skills, and you will improve how
you study law.
This course is offered online in order to meet the student's needs
for flexibility in time and space. Many of our elders have transportation
limitations due to financial reasons. You should consult with
our Counseling Department to discuss any school or career
goals. You may also wish to email
a counselor at our college. 0-92963-38-7. Our College also
has courses in Gerontology. You may wish to contact Sandi Lampert
at email: sandilamp@aol.com,
or visit her excellent webpage at http://www.vcsun.org/~slampert.,
or contact her at 818/364-7696.
Types of Classroom or Online activities:
Lectures will be posted under "lectures" on our homepage for this class. The lecture will be both a summary of the reading assignment and a filling-in of the gaps in that assignment. One purpose of the lecture is to answer the question, "What do you really need to know?". It will help the student focus on the major concepts in the textbook.
Reading Assignments are listed under "assignments", and will be given from Textbook :Textbook: Our textbook for this class is Law & Aging - Essentials of Elder Law by Ronald J. Schwartz (red paperback book) 1st Edition, Pearson Publications Company, Dallas, Texas, ISBN 0-92963-38-7. Available at the Campus Bookstore or directly from Pearson Publications(972) 661-8800 · Fax (972) 661-8701 e-mail address: pearsonpub@aol.com
Threaded discussions (or Bulletin
Board): student participation in asynchronous
online discussions (read
the information and theory behind "threaded discussions")
will form a significant part of the grade (see grading below).
Discussion questions based on text and Website readings will be
posted weekly in the Bulletin Board page. Discussions will take
place using the Bulletin Board.
Online Quizzes: The quizzes will
consist of one or more short-answer essay questions. Since these
quizzes are online with no time limit other than a deadline for
submission, they are equivalent to a take-home test. Thus, the
questions will probe a deeper understanding of the concepts, which
requires critical thinking and an intellectual tying-together
of the reading material and the Web sites. The answers will be
submitted to the instructor via email.
Legal Documents: These will consist of a will, a living
trust, and other legal documents.
Course Evaluation:
The final grade will be determined by:
Quiz average: 33 %
Discussion participation: 33%
Assignments: 34%
Required Resources:
System requirements: IBM or compatible (486/33 CPU minimum) with Windows or Mac or compatible with 6.05 operating system or higher, 8 megs of RAM, 20 megs free hard disc space, modem with a 9600 baud rate minimum.