The travails of gerontology education in Malta: Challenges and possibilities

Authors

  • Marvin Formosa Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18063/ijps.v8i1.1311

Keywords:

Geriatrics, Dementia studies, Ageing, Higher education, University

Abstract

As in recent decades, Malta has experienced an increase in both the number of available university programs in ageing studies and graduate students, the aim of this article is to evaluate the country’s efforts in ensuring a trained workforce in gerontology, geriatrics, and dementia education. While Malta punches above its weight as far as gerontology education is concerned, one also notes a number of shortcomings. The country is still devoid of a clear space for professional gerontologists to put in practice all their knowledge, and unfortunately both public and private employers are still highly unaware of the skills that professional gerontologists can bring toward the improvement of the quality of life and well-being of older persons living either in the community or long-term care. Moreover, curricula remain hindered by two key limitations. Primarily, there is a disproportionate Western bias in the choice of theories and practices in all realms of ageing studies. Second, that no full-time faculty member at the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies is a geriatrician, and that such faculty members all service the University on a visiting basis. In this respect, this chapter recommends three key and urgent strategies for gerontology education in Malta. These include establishing gerontology as a discipline in its own right is long overdue, founding gerontology as a bona fide profession, and accrediting gerontology. 

Author Biography

Marvin Formosa, Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

Marvin Formosa Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta and Director of the International Institute on Ageing United Nations - Malta (INIA). In 2020, Professor Formosa was the recipient of Doctor of Honor from the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. He also holds the posts of Chairperson of the National Commission for Active Ageing (Malta) and Rector’s Delegate for the University of the Third Age (Malta). Prof. Formosa is the lead author of the first and second National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing Malta 2014 - 2020. Recent published books include International perspectives on older adult education (with Brian Findsen, 2016), Population ageing in Turkey (with Yeşim Gökçe Kutsal, 2017), Active and healthy ageing in Malta: Gerontological and geriatric inquiries (2018), The University of the Third Age and active ageing: European and Asian-Pacific perspectives (2019), Population ageing in the Middle East and North Africa: Research and policy implications (with Abdulrazzak Abyad, 2021), and Ageing and COVID-19: Making sense of a disruptive world (with Maria Luszczyńska, 2021). Prof. Formosa is also Malta’s Country Team Leader for the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and in 2021 he was elected as Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and Fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

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Published

2022-06-27

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Research Articles

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