Attitudes towards older people among Swedish health care students and health care professionals working in elder care

Abstract

The proportion of older people in the general population has increased and will continue to increase during the coming decade. Therefore, a positive attitude towards older people is important. The aim of the study was to gain knowledge about attitudes towards older people among health care students and health care staff in Swedish elder care settings. The study includes a convenience sample of 928 respondents comprised of health care students and three groups of professional caregivers [registered nurses (RNs) with university degrees, certified nursing assistants (CNAs), nurses] in a variety of health care settings in Sweden. The participants completed the Kogan's Old People (KOPS) Scale with 17 positive (OP + ) and 17 negative (OP -) statements. The statements score ranged from 17 to 85 respectively. A significant (P<0.05) difference in both positive and negative scores was observed among the three professional caregiver groups. RNs had the highest positive score (OP + :64) as well as the lowest negative score (OP -:36). Health care students in semester one had the most unfavourable attitude toward older people (OP -:41) while students in semester two had the most favourable attitude toward older people (OP + :62). RNs reported both a higher positive score as well as lower negative score compared to nurses without an academic degree and CNAs. In addition, we found that progression in one's health care education contributes to reduce unfavourable attitudes toward older people. Health care professionals need to have the right skills to manage a more demanding role in the future in order to offer effective services for older people. A skilled workforce of health professionals is therefore very necessary.

Different Cultures but Similar Positive Attitudes: A Comparison between Thai and Swedish Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Older People

“…The Swedish students' age was positively associated with their positive attitudes; with age, the students developed higher positive scores. These results confirm those of other Swedish researchers (Engström & Fagerberg, 2011;Söderhamn et al, 2001) who demonstrate that the age of respondents relates to positive attitudes toward older persons. However, Lee (2009) did not find that older students had better attitudes toward aging, which might be due to the small sample of older students in the study.…”

Health professionals’ knowledge and attitudes toward older people in primary care in Saudi Arabia

“…All selected studies reported an association between advanced education levels and positive attitudes 3,8,14-17,21-25,27. Adibelli and Kilic’s23 study indicated that positive attitudes toward older people increased with higher levels of education that include university degree and postgraduate degree.…”

“…The AAS measures social beliefs and perceptions about the social life of older people as well as social opinions and views toward older people 16. The AAS contains 23 statements, which are rated on a 5-point Likert scale 14. Finally, the Chinese version of the Ageing Semantic Differential (CASD) is a 32-item scale, which is widely used to assess attitudes toward older people 17.…”

“…Moreover, Engstrom and Fagerberg reported that participants who had worked more than 21 years in a healthcare setting were more positive than participants with less work experience 14. Similarly, other studies have argued that doctors with more positive attitudes toward older people tend to work more with older people, while their experiences in aged care may also have stimulated positive attitudes towards older people 14,15,24. On the other hand, 2 studies reported no significant differences between a person’s length of experience in their current role as a healthcare worker and positive attitudes 17,22…”

Teaching gerontology in globalized academics: a qualitative study of Thai nursing students’ views on ageing when studying abroad

“…An awareness about the normality in aging, knowledge of natural aging processes as well as what is culturally important and relevant in service delivery, which has been acknowledged by Elliot (2005), may help change negative attitudes towards working within elder care (Engström & Fagerberg, 2011;McCann et al, 2010). The demand for education in gerontology and geriatrics is now also emerging from research within Australasia and Africa (Cheng et al, 2015a;Fajemilehin, 2004;Henderson et al, 2008;Hirst & Cole, 2014;Kumar et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2013), stressing that the amount of education in these areas will have an impact on the students' understanding of the needs of elderly patients (Fagerberg & Gilje, 2007).…”