Developing an Integrated Learner PDF

Unit III DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED LEARNER LIFE SKILLS Any skill useful in life is a life skill. Life skills have been defined by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1993 as “the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the de...

Unit III DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED LEARNER LIFE SKILLS Any skill useful in life is a life skill. Life skills have been defined by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1993 as “the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”. „Adaptive‟ means that a person is flexible in approach and is able to adjust in different circumstances. „Positive behaviour‟ implies that a person is forward looking and even in difficult situations, can find a ray of hope and opportunities to find solutions. UNICEF defines life skills as, "a behaviour change or behaviour development approach designed to address a balance of three areas: knowledge, attitude and skills." Importance of Life Skill Education: 1. Life skills help adolescents to transit successfully from childhood to adulthood by healthy development of social and emotional skills. 2. It helps in the development of social competence and problem-solving skills, which in turn help adolescents to form their own identity. 3. It helps adolescents to differentiate between hearing and listening and thus, ensuring less development misconceptions or miscommunications regarding issues such as drugs, alcoholism etc. 4. It delays the onset of the abuse of tobacco, alcohol etc. 5. It promotes the development of positive self-esteem and teaches self-control. The Ten core Life Skills as laid down by WHO are: 1. Self-awareness 2. Empathy 3. Critical thinking 4. Creative thinking 5. Decision making 6. Problem Solving 7. Effective communication 1  8. Interpersonal relationship 9. Coping with stress 10. Coping with emotion 1) Self-awareness includes recognition of „self‟, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is often a pre-requisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.  Conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, desires and capacity for introspection.  Self Awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions.  Self Awareness allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment Developing Self-awareness  Develop EQ  Know your Narrative Identity  Develop Self-reflection  Seek honest feedback.  Plan and prioritize and track the progress  Pay attention to frustrations 2) Empathy - To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to understand and care about other peoples‟ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person. Empathy is the ability to accept and understand others who are different from you. Empathy encourages a positive behaviour towards people in need of care and assistance. Finally, it helps you to move closer to findings solutions, to resolve conflicts and enhance quality of life. 3)Critical thinking is an ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner. Critical thinking can contribute to health by helping us to recognize and assess the factors that influence attitudes and behaviour, such as values, peer pressure and the media.  Ability to analyze information, experiences, situations and circumstances etc in an objective manner and rationally.  Recognizing and assessing factors that influence our attitude and behavior. 2  It is not merely criticizing. Developing critical thinking skills  Question your assumptions  Understand your biases  Think several moves ahead  Put yourself in other people‟s shoes  Understand all your options 4) Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas). Making objective judgments about choices and risks. Critical thinking can contribute to health by helping us to recognize and assess the factors that influence attitudes and behaviour, such as values, peer pressure, and the media.  Think differently and out of the box.  Look beyond our direct experience  Respond adaptively  Having flexibility to situations in daily life  Achieving the objectives in daily life situations By thinking creatively, we can find the solutions when it seems that there is no way out. Critical thinking promotes creativity. Just generating new ideas does not work. One needs to generate new ideas which are useful and relevant. And creative thinking helps us in improving ourselves after self-reflection. Some approaches involved in creative thinking skills Creative thinking skills involve such approaches as: - Engaging in reflection. - Looking for many possible answers rather than one -Allowing yourself to make wild and crazy suggestions as well as those that seem sensible. 3 - Not judging ideas early in the process - treat all ideas as if they may contain the seeds of something potentially useful. - Allowing yourself to doodle, daydream or play with a theory or suggestion. - Use Brain storming Techniques 5) Decision making is the process of making choices by setting goals, gathering information, and assessing alternative occupations. It helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. It can teach people how to actively make decisions about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have. Characteristics of Decision Making  It is a process of selection or choice among alternatives  It is an Intellectual or rational process  It involves a time dimension and a time lag  It is always related to situation or the environment  Decision making is a human and social process. 6) Problem solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving problems. The ultimate goal of problem solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best resolves the issue. It helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain. Steps in Problem Solving  Identifying the problem  Defining the problem  Formulation of hypotheses  Collection of data  Testing the hypotheses  Conclusion  Evaluation of results 7) Interpersonal relationship skills help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance to our mental and social well-being. It may mean keeping, good relations with family members, which are an important source of social support. It may also mean being able to end relationships constructively. Interpersonal Skills are the skills we use when interacting directly with other people. we use both verbal and non-verbal communication techniques when engaged in a face-to-face conversation.  Interpersonal Skills are the skills used when interacting directly with other people. 4   Both verbal and non-verbal communication techniques when engaged in a face-to-face conversation.  The set of abilities enabling a person to interact positively and work effectively with others. Developing Interpersonal Skills  Relax and Deal with Stress  Seek Clarification in concepts  Be Positive and Cheerful  Empathise with others.  Recognise, manage and control stress.  Learn to be assertive  Reflect and Improve  Negotiate 8) Effective communication Skill means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations.  Effective communication is exchange of information by understanding the emotion behind it.  Effective communication is a learned skill  Communication skill develops with effort and practice DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS  Listening  Bring your senses to rescue  Using effective Non-verbal communication  Managing Stress  Look for humor in the situation  Agree to disagree  Be willing to compromise 5  9) Coping with stress means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or lifestyle and learning how to relax. 10) Coping with emotions means involving, recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately. Dealing with stress and emotions  Recognize when you are becoming stressed  Take a moment to calm down  Bring your senses to rescue  Look for humour in the situation  Be willing to compromise  Agree to disagree. Guidance and Counselling The Meaning of Guidance According to skinner, Guidance is a process of helping young person‟s learn to adjust to self, to others and to circumstances.It is the process of helping an individual to help himself and develop his potentialities to the fullest by utilizing the opportunities provided by the environment. Frank Parsons is the father of Guidance. Nature and characterics of Guidance  Process of assisting one person by another  Promotion of an individual‟s ability in self-direction  It is an organized service  It is goal oriented.  It is a lifelong process  It is both an art and science.  It is life related and the programme is meant for all.  It is based on individual differences. Need/objectives for guidance in school  To help in the total development of the student  To help the child to recognize and use his inner resources  To help the students to make best possible adjustments.  To minimize mismatching between education and employment.  To check wastage and stagnation  To minimize indiscipline 6  To tackle emotional problems.  To develop healthy and balanced personality. Types of Guidance  Personal Guidance  Vocational Guidance  Educational Guidance  Individual and Group Guidance(based on the method of approach)  1) Personal Guidance According to Wilson, personal guidance is the assistance given to an individual in his physical, emotional, social, moral and spiritual development and adjustment. Objectives of personal Guidance To understand his personal problems. To enhance adjustability of an individual. To help individual to develop socially desirable goals, recognize his strength and limitations to become enriched. To make individual sensitive about his environment. Steps of personal Guidance 1. Collection of data. 2. Diagnosis of the problem 3. Prognosis-Based on the diagnosis, future course of the development of the problem is judged by the counselor. 4. Rendering Guidance 5. Follow-up 2) Educational Guidance According to Jones Educational Guidance is the assistance given to the pupil in their choices and adjustments with relation to school, curriculum, courses and school life. Objectives 1. To pursue right type of education. 2. Helping students to cope with exam anxiety 3. To develop effective study habits. 4. To check wastage and stagnation in education. 5. Help in educational adjustments. 6. To choose educational course best suited to him 7. To help to make educational plans consistent with his abilities and interest. 7  3) Vocational Guidance According to National Vocational Guidance Association(USA) defines vocational guidance as the process of assisting the individual to choose an occupation, prepare for it ,enter upon and progressing in it. Objectives 1. To help the student to make best possible vocational choice. 2. Provide information about occupational opportunities. 3. Help students to understand and the problems and causes of unemployment. 4. To help in vocational adjustment. 5. To make educational plans beads on their abilities. Individual Guidance It is the face to face relationship between two individual in which one gives some kind of assistance to another. Group Guidance According to Crow and Crow Group Guidance is the guidance service that is made available by school personnel to large or small group of students. Common problems of the students can be discussed. Helpful in providing leadership training. Helpful in giving orientation to the students. Helps to improve student‟s social attitude and behavior. Information can be given to large number of students. Career Talk-Career talk is a technique of imparting occupational information in group situation. People actively engage in certain profession may be invited to give a talk. The subject matter of the talk may include nature of work, Qualification and training required for entry into job, salary, promotion facilities, and other benefits. Career Conference Career conference is a meeting in which experts‟ in different occupation participates and makes available their intimate knowledge about their field of work. It is a group activity organized to provide occupational information to a large number of students. It usually covers topics such as importance of work, essential qualifications of work, ways of getting special training, expected income, possibilities of promotion etc. How to organize Guidance Services in School  Leadership by a trained master must be provided in every school.  Participation of group of teachers and parents who are interested in guidance. 8  Provision for guidance programme must be made in the school timetable  School administration should facilitate the implementation of guidance decision.  Frequent evaluation should be an essential part of guidance programme to ensure its utility. Stages of organizing Guidance Bureau/Guidance cell 1. Constitute the school guidance committee-with head master as the president, the guidance master as the secretary and five class in charges, different subject in charges, president of PTA and student secretaries of different classes as members. 2.Separate Guidance Room- should be equipped with cupboards, display racks, bulletin boards, tables and chairs. The room can also be used for holding discussions, showing films and film strips or for holding PTA meetings. 3.Maintain cumulative record –It should contain information about the pupil such as identifying data, schools attended so far health records, achievement records, participation in co- curricular activities, specific assets and limitations, unusual talents, results of psychological tests etc 4.The school should have effective liaison with the agencies-like vocational and technical institutions in the area, with industries, business houses, with institutions of higher learning, with counselors and guidance teachers of other schools. The Meaning of Counselling Counselling is a process of helping individuals or group of people to gain self-understanding in order to be themselves. Burker and Steffler (1979) see counseling as a professional relationship between a trained Counselor and a client. Olayinka (1972) defined it to be a process whereby a person is helped in a face-to-face relationship while Makinde (1983) explained counseling as an enlightened process whereby people help others by encouraging their growth. Counselling is a process designed to help clients understand and clarify personal views of their life space, and to learn to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices and a resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature. It believes that every human individual has the potential for self-growth, self-development and self-actualization. Basic Principles of counseling  The approach should be scientific rather than sentimental.  It is primarily a preventive and remedial process.  It is strongly dedicated to self-direction and self-realization of the client.  Counselling method varies according to the need of the client.  Counselling is democratic and problem oriented  Counselling is a private interview between counselor and counselee.  It should give importance to respect for individual. 9  It should be based on mutually acceptable democratic values.  It should be a structured learning situation. Types of Counselling There are two major types of Counselling, namely: individual counselling and group counselling. (a) Individual Counselling: This is referred to as one-to-one counselling. It occurs between the professionally trained Counsellor (Therapist) and his client (Counsellee). The goal of this is to help the client to understand himself, clarify and direct his thought, in order to make a worthwhile decision. It is mainly to bring about change in the client either by altering maladaptive behaviour, learning the decision making process or preventing problems. (b) Group Counselling: This is a counselling session that takes place between the professionally trained counsellor and a group of people. Number of this group should not be more than seven, or at least ten, in order to have a cohesive group and an effective well controlled counselling session. Members of the groups are clients/counselees whose tasks or problems that are meant for resolution are similar. During group counselling, a free atmosphere is allowed and freedom of speech is encouraged. The counselees are free to express themselves individually as counselling progresses so that encumbrances surrounding the tasks or problems to be resolved would be open for all to consider and benefit from. All counselees are expected to participate and express their feelings. The responsibility of the counsellor during group counselling is to help remove the marks covering the problem. He helps open up the problem with the professional competence and knowledge he possesses. The counsellor is not just a member of the group; he is to direct the affairs and situations. Classification of Counselling Counselling can be classified according to different spheres of life in which human beings could encounter problems. These are: (a) Educational Counselling: problems that could be of learning, teaching and that of education generally are handled here. (b) Marital Counselling: problems that could emanate from married life beginning from spouse selection are resolved here. (c) Personal and Social Counselling: problems including personality and life in general are taken care of here. (d) Rehabilitation Counselling: problems emanating from life disruptions such as accidents, retrenchment and natural mishaps are handled here. (e) Vocational Counselling: problems from work and training, career choice making and adjustment are handled here. Only three of the above types of counselling will be mainly practiced in the school setting. These are Educational, Vocational and Personal-social counselling which will be the full responsibility 10 of the school counsellor. However, a counsellor in private practice might need to engage in the other types of counselling depending on the needs of his clients. Approaches to Counselling There are many approaches to Counselling, but these approaches can be grouped under the following three headings: (a)Indirect Approach/Non-Directive Counselling/Permissive counselling: Carl.R.Roger is the chief exponent of this approach. The indirect approach to counselling is also regarded as the client-centered approach. In this approach, the counselee is allowed to express self while the counsellor only listen with attention , when necessary, injects words that can elicit more responses on the case at hand from the counselee. The professional counsellors that use this approach rely on the tenets of the client-centred theory as their major counselling skill. In non – directive counselling, the counsellor accepts completely what the counsellee says and recognizes his feelings. The main function of the counselor is to create an environment in which the client can work out his problem. Steps in Non-directive Counselling 1. Defining the Problem Situation 2. Free expression of feelings by client 3. Development of insight by client about the problem 4. Classification of positive and negative feelings by counselor 5. Termination of counselling situation. Merits  Counsellee become independent and self-reliant  Helps to attain emotional integrity of the client.  Helps to attain more sustainable adjustment to his situation. Demerits  More time consuming  Not suitable for less matured and less intelligent counsellee (b) Direct Approach/Directive Conselling/Prescriptive Counselling: E.G. Williamson is the chief exponent of this approach. This is also called counsellor centered approach. This is just the opposite of the indirect or client-centered approach. In this counselling approach, the talking is done by the counsellor who uses questions and various counselling skills to elicit responses from the counselee about the problems at hand. This is based on the assumption that client cannot solve his own problems due to lack of information. Here, the counsellor dictates the pace and directs the counselee based on the responses gathered from the counselee. This approach gives importance to intellectual aspect rather than emotional aspects. 11  Merits  Less time consuming  Even less matured and less intelligent client can interact with counselor.  Best method at lower levels where the client is not in a position to analyse his own problems. Demerits  Client never becomes independent.  No attitude is developed from his own experiences. Steps in Directive Counselling 1. Analysis 2. Synthesis 3. Diagnosis 4. Prognosis 5. Counselling 6. Follow-up (c) Eclectic Approach: This approach to counseling does not rely totally on either the indirect or direct approach. Rather it finds the two approaches named above with any other suitable one handy during counseling sessions. It thereby relies on chosen skills that suit the counseling session at hand, from all the available approaches, to resolve the counselee‟s problems. It is a combination of both the approaches. Counselling Skills Counselling is an art and it requires certain specific skills if it is to be effective. The basic skills involved in counseling are: 1. Acquanting Skill i.e. to make oneself familiar with something.  Chit-Chat-Skill in engaging in some neutral type of conversations to avoid anxiety.  Confidentiality-Act of keeping information entrusted or secret  Invitation to talk-Knack of triggering the client to get maximum information. 2.Observation Skill  Skill of Listening  Skill of responding  Skill of attending  Maintaining proper eye contact 3.Diagnosing Skill 12  Skill to formulate hypothesis  Skill of locating problems  Skill to administer tests  Skill of pinpointing the problem. 4.Personalizing Skill  Skill of preparing the client to make decisions  Skill of making the client to rectify deficiencies. 5.Reframing Skill -approaching the problem from different angles 6. Initiating Skill-ability of the counselor to initiate the client to act. 7.Evaluating Skill-Skill to make an assessment on the performance of the counselee Qualities of a good Counsellor  Magnetic Personality  Personal adjustment  Interpersonal Relationship  Wide range of interest  Professional Competence  Leadership Quality  Professional Dedication  Philosophy of life. Steps in Counselling 1. Rapport building- Establishing a safe trustworthy environment between counselor and client. 2. Assessment of problem of client-Helping client to narrate his concerns and issues. This requires active listening on the part of a counselor by focusing on client's feeling for the event rather than event itself. 3. Transforming problem statements of client into targeted goals- This takes place by setting achievable goals in a time-bound manner by overcoming probable obstacles to goals. 4. Developing an action plan- This requires setting objectives and tasks that client is supposed to do in order to achieve a targeted goal. It is an active implementation stage of counseling process. 5. Review and Feedback- The aim of review and feedback is to give continuous reinforcement to client for consistent attitude and behavioral change. 6. Termination- A counselor should also terminate client counselor relationship once the counseling process is over. 13 Difference between Guidance and Counselling: Guidance Counselling 1.Generalised Service 1.Specialised Service 2.Broad and comprehensive process 2.More precise and deep 3.Given to normal individual 3.Usually given for abnormal behavior 4.Can be personal or impersonal 4.Always personal 5.Preventive rather than curative 5.Curative rather than preventive 6. It is developmental in function 6. Therapeutic in function 7. Continuous and life long process. 7. Not lifelong. 8. Usually impersonal 8.Mostly on personal and social issues. 9. The person is more important 9. The problem is more important. 10. Changes are brought about in the attitude of 10.Changes are brought about in the the client. feelings and emotions of client Adolescent Issues and their management The process of change from total dependence to independent role with greater responsibility disturbs adolescents. He becomes emotionally disturbed when he fails to meet various demands in his life. The adolescent fails to decide his status in social settings and failure to meet social expectations results in emotional disturbances and failure to adjust to new environment. The sudden functioning of sexual glands and tremendous increase in physical energy makes him restless. It is during this period that adolescence Indulge in many of abuses and harassment. Some of the major adolescent issues are : (1)Sexual abuse/harassment Child sexual abuse can have immediate and long term effects that span across an individual‟s physical, cognitive, interpersonal and emotional functioning. Children who are emotionally needy because of family problems, poor parental supervision and low self-esteem may be most vulnerable to sexual abuse because the offenders deliberately target children who are responsive to their attention. Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at risk as they experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique-forming, and 14  sexual experimentation, that have introduced problems such as cyber bullying(,Cyber bullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person). Privacy issues and “sexting.” (Sexting can be defined as “sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital devices) Other problems include Internet addiction and concurrent sleep deprivation. Child's behaviour:  Unexplained depression, anxiety, fearfulness, aggression or withdrawal, self-harm behaviours  Marked change in behaviour or emotional state, not explained by known stressful event.  Emotional problems not consistent with age or known disorder - eg, excessive tantrums, recurrent nightmares.  Lack of normal behaviour towards a career or adult - seems afraid, over-obedient, role reversal, not seeking comfort when distressed.  Unusual reluctance to undress, fear of physical contact etc  Frozen watchfulness: the child looks watchful yet unresponsive, carefully tracking the adults with his or her eyes (as if awaiting the next blow). This sign indicates a severe level of abuse.  Running away from home, unexplained absence from school. How to tackle the problem of sex abuse  Offer a supportive and non-judgmental response  Try not to over-react emotionally.  Provide safe, healthy and recovery environment.  Teach children self-protection skills.  Train children to say „no‟ or „stop‟  Support community and school programs to prevent abuse.  Offer ongoing communication with adolescents to create trusting relationship.  Help children to develop good emotional stability.  Help them to develop as a holistic personality with moral values. (2)Substance Abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. WHO defines 'Substance abuse' as: the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs Psychoactive substance use can lead to dependence syndrome - a cluster of behavioural,cognitive, and physiological phenomena that develop after repeated substance 15 use and that typically include a strong desire to take the drug, difficulties in controlling its use, persisting in its use despite harmful consequences, a higher priority given to drug use than to other activities and obligations, increased tolerance, and sometimes a physical withdrawal state. Chronic harmful effects include; Headache Acute suffocation Unconsciousness Aspiration memory/concentration impairment Probable long term memory problems. Sudden Death Drug abuse is a dangerous negative effect of peer pressure. Haynie (2002) says that adolescents get their self esteem from group they are belonging to and they cannot imagine themselves outside that gathering. So peer influence is the most important factor for substance abuses. When peer becomes addicted to smoking, drinking or illicit substances, it is his or her responsibility to solve the problem and never tell that he or she was influenced by someone else. There is a strong correlation between the use of drugs and violence among adolescents. (3)Impact of Media/Internet and mobile Media has become one of the most pervasive forces in the world today. Adolescents, in particular, spend a significant amount of time viewing and interacting with media in the form of TV, video games, music, mobile and the Internet. Considering all of these sources together, children spend more than 6 hours per day using media. Nearly half of that time is spent watching TV. The remainder of the time is spent using other electronic media alone or in combination with TV.Adolescents spend most of their time interacting with different types of media. Most of the shows they watch in media contain alcohol advertisements, acts of violence, and unrealistic body images. Sexual abuses are also increasing because of the use of media. Tackling Problems of adolescents  Social workers can help parents learn about and use programs that can filter out harmful media content  Adolescents should be given training in using the media in a more positive and constructive way.  They should be helped to improve their social skills with the help of media.  Provide awareness about the aftereffects of misusing media.  Help them to add more knowledge with the use of different media. 16  Depression and suicide Adolescents are the most significant group who are very much prone to depression. Depression can destroy ones personality. The natural transition from child to adult, pressures from parents, conflicts and frustrations in adolescents. Signs of depression-Sadness, hopelessness, withdrawal symptoms, Restlessness, Fatigue, Thoughts of death or suicide. One of the most important thought of the depressed person is to end his life and he doesn‟t see any hope in his future life. Causes of depression  Abuse. Past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can cause depression later in life.  Certain medications. Some drugs, such as Accutane (used to treat acne), the antiviral drugs can increase your risk of depression.  Conflict. Depression in someone who has the biological vulnerability to develop depression may result from personal conflicts or disputes with family members or friends.  Death or a loss. Sadness or grief from the death or loss of a loved one, though natural, may increase the risk of depression.  Genetics. A family history of depression may increase the risk. It's thought that depression is a complex trait that may be inherited across generations, although the genetics of psychiatric disorders are not as simple or straightforward as in purely genetic diseases such as Huntington's chorea or cystic fibrosis.  Major events. Even good events such as starting a new job, graduating, or getting married can lead to depression. So can moving, losing a job or income, getting divorced, or retiring.  Other personal problems. Problems such as social isolation due to other mental illnesses or being cast out of a family or social group can lead to depression.  Serious illnesses. Sometimes depression co-exists with a major illness or is a reaction to the illness.  Substance abuse. Nearly 30% of people with substance abuse problems also have major or clinical depression.  Lack of moral values.  Lack of proper mental health  Unhealthy relationship with peers.  Lack of parental control. Remedies for depression  Create a feeling in adolescents that there are some one to trust.  Create self-confidence and good self-esteem  Provide stress management techniques.  Help the students to develop Life Skills among Students.  Provide Guidance and Counselling services. 17  Develop good morale among students. GERIATRICS (Care of Aged) Geriatrics or Geriatrics medicine is a branch that focuses on health care of elderly people. People more than 60 years of age are considered as elderly. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older persons. With growing age senior citizens experience various Physical, Psychological, Social, Emotional, and Financial Problems. Challenges / Problems of Elderly (i) Physiological: physical deterioration, loss of teeth, skin becomes rough and looses its elasticity, Wrinkles are formed, Bones harden in old age, become brittle and are subject to fractures and breaks, Loss of eye sight (ii) Psychological: Psychotic depressions, dementia, Anxiety, Mood disorders etc (iii) Social: loss of independence, death of relatives, friends and spouse and weak health, lonely and isolated (iv) Emotional: Decline in mental ability, negligence and indifferent attitude of the family members, disappointment, dejection, disease, repentance and loneliness. (v) Financial: loss of future pension income How to care elderly at home  Keep them involved in their care decisions as much as possible  Install safety features in their home.  Help your loved one stay active.  Stay involved in their medical care.  Encourage them to socialize.  Nursing homes if home care isn‟t an option.  Find a support group if you need emotional support and advice.  Hire a geriatric care manager to help you make good decisions.  Reach out to family and friends for support.  Practice self-care to prevent caregiver burnout.  Make sure that they are happy and nothing is stressing them out.  Always be respectful to the elderly. Listen for their wishes and try to follow them if you can.  Keep them involved in making decisions for themselves so that they are more comfortable about accepting help. This may not work for elderly who suffer from dementia.  Grab bars or railings installed in bathrooms, hallways, and other living areas  Shower seats or elevated toilet seats  Ramps or stair climbers  Non-slip surfaces on stairs, on floors, and in showers  Maintain Frequent Contact.... 18  Visit Your Parents More Often....  Encourage Your Aging Parents to Visit Community Social Gatherings. 19