PSYCHOLOGY OF OLDER ADULTS
Final Assignment: Educational Brochure
Learning Objective
As a clinical psychologist, you will often be asked to provide educational talks and presentations in the community. Therefore, it is paramount that you are able to communicate important health information in a way that is digestible to the average person. Throughout this course, many of you have asked, “why isn’t more being done to educate older adults and their families on ways to optimize their aging experience?” The answer is that many clinical psychologists do provide this education; however, this information is often presented using psychology jargon that goes in one ear and out the other for people who are not familiar with common vocabulary used in our field. Your final assignment aligns with your final learning objective of this course in that you are to demonstrate that you have learned enough about a topic that you are able to explain it to the general community in a comprehensible manner.
Summary
The goal of this assignment is for students to create a brochure designed to explain an agingrelated topic to a lay audience. The students may choose any topic on the syllabus. The brochure will be two-sided, with three sections on each side, just like a brochure that could be printed and distributed in real life. When creating their brochure, students should imagine that they want to make a large audience aware or better informed about a topic, but that audience has little to no previous knowledge of the topic.
Instructions
1. Choose your software. You may choose to use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint (or equivalent). You can create your brochure from scratch or use available templates from the software program of your choosing. For more information on how to find and use templates, see the Tips section at the end of this document.
2. Choose a topic. It is important that you choose a topic that has enough information to fill a brochure, but not so much information that it feels crowded or overwhelming to the reader. Examples of topics include: Modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease,
Depression in Older Adults, Health Literacy in Older Adults, among many others. I am happy to discuss your topic with you only in Check-in hours or by appointment.
3. Choose a catchy or interesting title. Remember, your title should make a reader want to check out your brochure. Once you have chosen your topic, try to make it engaging. For example, if your topic is Depression, your title could be “Am I Tired, Sad, or Something Else? Signs of Depression to Watch Out For.” I happily accept funny or catchy titles as long as they are appropriate. Think, “could I display this in a doctor’s office?”
4. Organize your brochure. Regardless of what topic you choose, there are some basic elements that you might consider including to make a brochure more effective. You DO NOT have to include every single one of these; however, I ask that you include at least 3 of the following elements:
a. Basic explanations of key concepts that the reader needs to understand (“What is depression?”)
b. Statistics (“Did you know that 7 million American adults over the age of 65 experience depression each year?”)
c. Helpful facts, such as specific symptoms to keep in mind (“Sign #1. You are less interested in hobbies that you once found enjoyable.”)
d. Motivation (“If you have ever felt this way, know that you are not alone!”)
e. Tips or other actionable items (“Tip #1: Get moving! Exercise can help boost your mood and physical health!”)
f. Alternate tips or actionable items (“If it’s hard or painful to do intense exercise, consider other options, like playing with a pet.”)
g. Resources (“If you are interested in exercising with a group, the Harris County Community Center has FREE Zumba classes every Friday at 1:00PM. Call 123-4567890 for more information!”). This can be a real or fake resource.
5. Format your brochure. Show your creative side! Compliment your text with pictures! Make it appealing! Make sure that the reading level of all your text is no more complicated than a 10th to 12th grade level. There is information in the Tips section at the end of this document on how to determine the reading level of your text.
6. CITE YOUR SOURCES! At least one section, preferably the last section, of your brochure should have a References section in APA format. This section can be in small font relative to the rest of your brochure, but it must be present. You need to have at least two scholarly sources (it can be any of our assigned or book readings/videos/audio, or any other credible source you choose). Just know that you will need to make sure that you are formatting the reference correctly (i.e., it may be different for video sources versus readings). You are welcome to have more than two scholarly sources, but you are only required to have two. Please visit OWL Purdue APA Formatting and Style Guidelines OR come to Check-in Hours
with me and I would be happy to help!
7. Submit on Canvas. Please remember that Turnitin checks your assignment and flags any signs of plagiarism. To behave with academic honesty, make sure you paraphrase your sources instead of copying directly from them, and give credit to any information you use that you did not personally come up with or that is not public knowledge. If your assignment shows 30% or more similarly to other sources, I will consider docking points.
I will happily review your brochure and give you real-time edits as many times as you need in Check-in Hours only! I will not accept review/edit requests via Canvas/email. However, I am happy to answer general questions regarding the assignment or help with technical problems via Canvas/email.
Grading Criteria This assignment can receive a total of 60 points.
Criterion: Formatting (20 points) Student Knowledge (20 points) Accessibility (20 points)
Excellent 20 points: The brochure is visually pleasant and there is a References section at the end with correct APA formatting. 20 points: The brochure shows that the student understands their topic of choice. There are correct explanations of concepts and accurate facts. 20 points: The brochure is fully written in a way that is understandable to a lay audience; is clear and userfriendly, with a reading level no higher than 10th to 12th grade
Good 15 points: The brochure is disorganized, visually jarring, or has incorrect formatting for the References section. 15 points: The brochure has limited information or makes a claim that is blatantly vague or incorrect, showing a lack of understanding of the topic. 15 points: The brochure mostly easy to understand, though it has sections that are confusing, use jargon, or are written in an overly high reading level
Needs work 5 points: The brochure is incomplete or there is no References section. 5 points: The brochure shows several gaps in knowledge or understanding, or makes various incorrect statements. 5 points: The brochure is mostly written in a way that a lay audience would struggle to understand. There is mostly technical or complicated language and/or it is otherwise overwhelming/hard to read
Tips
• How to find templates on Microsoft Word and PowerPoint o Open the program. In the main menu, select “New” o Find the search bar for templates and type “brochure”
o Select any template you like and use!
o Please make sure to double-check to make sure your assignment does not have any old text from the original template.
• How to evaluate the reading level of any text:
o Use a reading level calculator, such as the one found on this link:
https://goodcalculators.com/flesch-kincaid-calculator/
o Copy and paste your text and select “Calculate.” The site will provide you with several different indicators of how readable the text is. For this assignment, focus on the Reading Level index. You can find examples below.
Example of a sentence with a reading level equivalent to 5th grade:
Example of a sentence with a reading level equivalent to 10th to 12th grade:
Example of a sentence with a reading level equivalent to college graduate:
