Attitude Adjustment

Abstract

For more than half a century, scientific research has documented widespread avoidance and even denial of aging. Though nothing new, aversive reactions to the elderly are not only unfortunate but dangerous today, as increasing life expectancy and consequent demand for specialized geriatric medical care vastly outpace the supply of qualified clinicians equipped to provide it. This discrepancy has led to a crisis that is not easily resolved. At the same time, geriatrics reports the highest level of physician satisfaction among medical specialties. How can this apparent disconnect be explained, and what can be done about it? Citing evidence from medicine and other health care disciplines, the authors address these questions by emphasizing the role of aging-related attitudes, a complex but theoretically modifiable construct. Successful educational interventions are described, including the authors' experience at the helm of a monthlong geriatrics clerkship for fourth-year medical students. Novel suggestions are provided to combat the daunting challenges to achieving a workforce that is sufficient both in number and training to effectively meet the needs of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. As patients continue to age across most medical specialties, the importance of geriatric curricula, particularly those sensitizing learners to the need for a systems-based, biopsychosocial (i.e., interdisciplinary) model of care, cannot be overemphasized. Such training, it is argued, should be a standard component of medical education, and future research should focus on identifying specific curricular content and teaching methods that most effectively achieve this end.

Encountering aged care: a mixed methods investigation of medical students’ clinical placement experiences

“…Similarly, the survey data indicated that attitudes towards working with older adults improved significantly over the course of the clinical placement. The results of this study reinforce mixed international evidence for variable medical student attitudes towards older adults, aged care, and geriatric medicine [ 18 – 22 , 45 , 52 ]. International research shows that although students may hold negative, neutral or positive attitudes towards older adults prior to clinical engagement, exposure to this cohort as part of medical training can significantly improve attitudes [ 21 , 45 , 53 ].…”

Training demands on clerk burnout: determining whether achievement goal motivation orientations matter

“…Therefore, in our study, the clerks’ properties of task achievement goal motivation orientation might drive them to be interested in information relevant to clarifying task demands and promoting mastery [53], thereby buffering the negative effects of physical demands on their burnout to a certain extent. However, regarding the negative effects of training demands (psychological and physical), we observed a limited effect of the task achievement motivation orientation of the medical students only in the 1st year, but not in the 2nd year; therefore, several preventive strategies and preparations must be initiated early, which include clerkship preparation skill courses [54], attitude adjustment [55], and social supports from interpersonal, supervisory, and managerial or organizational stakeholders [56, 57]. …”

Medical Students’ Perceptions of Dementia after Participation in Poetry Workshop with People with Dementia

“…But they lack the time to stop and question, why? [ 3 ] Bensadon et al point to how students' aging-related attitudes negatively impact career and treatment decisions thereby contributing to the deficit of practitioners available to care for people with ADRD [ 6 ].…”

“…Experiential learning models, designed to stretch thinking modalities, without increasing time requirements, may sufficiently alter medical trainees attitudes, so they feel more comfortable communicating with and caring for people with ADRD [ 3 , 6 , 9 , 10 ]. Studies support that artistic interventions affect the attitudes of people caring for those with ADRD [ 7 , 9 , 11 – 13 ].…”