For many students in adult development, gerontology, and psychology and aging courses, engaging with course content requires imagining scenarios that may feel distant, hypothetical, or hard to picture. Students in these courses, most of whom are in their late teens and twenties, may be taking these classes out of curiosity about developmental stages that lie decades ahead of them. While some courses nested in gerontology or adult development programs cover topics that are not necessarily life‑phase specific (e.g., bereavement), other courses focus on experiences that young adults are simply less likely to have encountered firsthand.
There are many ways to bridge this gap and help students ground abstract concepts in reality. This teaching tip describes one particularly powerful strategy: bringing people with lived experience into the classroom.
For our purposes, lived experience can be defined as direct, personal involvement with the aging‑related phenomena students are learning about—experience that provides insight unavailable through textbooks or lectures alone. People with a variety of lived experiences can make rich contributions to class learning and discussion, expanding perspectives and humanizing course topics. In adult psychology and aging or other related courses, these individuals may include people living with progressive illnesses (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease), family caregivers, people who are or have been family care planners, or clinicians who provide healthcare to older adults. Their presence brings narrative depth to course concepts, diminishes pervasive stereotypes, and encourages candid, meaningful discussions.
Recently, I had the privilege of inviting R. Lynn Barnett to join me for a guest lecture in Emory’s Concepts of Care course. Barnett is a writer and family caregiver—first for her mother, who lived with cancer and dementia, then for her husband while he navigated cancer. She is no stranger to sharing her caregiving stories, having channeled humor and honesty in essays and memoirs (including My Mother Has Alzheimer’s and My Dog Has Tapeworms: A Caregiver’s Tale). The following tips draw on what Barnett, and I learned as we planned and delivered an engaging, thoughtful class session.
Tip #1: Choose your guest(s) with care
When inviting someone with lived experience to speak, it is important to consider how their personal history might shape their comfort and preparedness. While the goal is to humanize course content, it can be a misstep to invite a guest who has not yet had adequate opportunities to process particularly challenging experiences. Such guests may find it difficult to share their story without becoming overwhelmed, and the emotional intensity could detract from learning or place undue pressure on students.
Similarly, a guest should be prepared to stay aligned with the topic at hand. Individuals with deep, multifaceted histories often have many salient stories to tell, and without adequate preparation they may drift away from the focus of the course session in an effort to cover everything they feel is important.
There are no strict criteria for assessing readiness or fit, but a preliminary conversation can provide clarity. I suspected Barnett would be an excellent fit because she had previously written about her caregiving experiences, giving her opportunities to process events and demonstrate skills in crafting a coherent narrative. During our planning call, she showed clear understanding of the day’s topic and offered relevant anecdotes that were engaging, personal, and appropriately scoped.
Tip #2: Prepare and share a plan for class activities
Set your guest up for success by collaboratively outlining what you hope to accomplish during the session. This planning helps ensure that student learning objectives remain central and that the class time is structured rather than improvised. It also boosts your guest’s comfort by giving them a sense of the parameters and expectations.
In a recent paper in The Gerontologist titled, Improving gerontological research dissemination: PARTNERship with people with lived experience in research symposiaopens in new window, I map Approaches for Participatory Work in the context of disseminating research in partnership with individuals with lived experience, noting that higher levels of collaboration involve empowering partners to help define both the scope and content of the presentation. The same logic applies here: when time allows and the partnership is a good fit, classroom guests can help shape content in ways that feel authentic to them and align with the day’s learning goals.
Barnett and I had only a week to prepare, so I took the lead in outlining the session to ensure alignment with course objectives. I divided class time between a lecture segment and a discussion with Barnett, guided by question prompts she had reviewed beforehand. This approach ensured that we covered core concepts while still leaving ample space for student questions.
Tip #3: Move beyond a typical “participant interview”
It can be tempting to structure the guest interaction as an interview modeled on qualitative research methods. While such approaches have value, a richer learning experience emerges when the guest’s presence creates opportunities for authentic dialogue, critical thinking, and integration of course concepts. Following tips 1 and 2 can create a foundation for this rich experience.
Although Barnett and I used an interview‑style structure, we aimed for a genuine, dynamic conversation rather than a scripted question‑and‑answer session. After the lecture segment, I invited Barnett to react to key terms and conceptual frameworks introduced earlier, emphasizing that her deep personal experience and reflective writing positioned her to speak with authority. What followed was a dialogue that moved beyond what one might hear in a typical qualitative interview; it was a conversation between two experts with complementary perspectives.
In sum, bringing lived experience into the classroom deepens learning in ways that lectures and readings alone may not achieve. With thoughtful preparation and an eye toward authenticity, instructors can create spaces where students engage more fully with the realities of aging. These encounters not only broaden understanding but also foster a more humane, empathetic perspective on the course material.
Emily Mroz, PhD
Assistant Professor
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Emory University