First Year Graduate Social Work Students' Knowledge of and attitude Toward Older Adults

Gellis, Zvi D.; Sherman, Susan R.; Lawrance, Frances P.

doi:10.1080/713844235

Cited by 117 publications

(66 citation statements)

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“…Gellis et al (2003) found that previous experience interacting with older adults did not consistently result in more Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 17:17 20 December 2014 favorable attitudes toward older people. Many researchers have concluded that it is the quality of the contact with older adults, rather than the frequency, that affects attitudes, with those reporting higher quality contact also reporting more positive attitudes toward older adults (Bousfield & Hutchison, 2010;Schwartz & Simmons, 2001).…”

Section: Contact With Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…In a study conducted by Gellis, Sherman, and Lawrance (2003), male students were found to have less favorable attitudes toward older adults than females. Allan and Johnson (2009) found no significant differences between males and females in knowledge of aging or aging anxiety.…”

Section: Sexmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In general, studies focusing on students' knowledge and their interest in aging-related topics and careers find a low-to-moderate level of aging-related knowledge among students of social work Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 17:17 20 December 2014 (Gellis et al, 2003); medicine (Fitzgerald et al, 2003); nutrition (Kaempfer, Wellman, & Himburg, 2002); and health (Lee, 2009); as well as students representing a range of disciplines (Allan & Johnson, 2009). While greater knowledge of aging has been associated with improved attitudes toward older people (Lun, 2011;Kimuna, Knox, & Zusman, 2005), the findings are mixed regarding aging-related employment.…”

Section: Knowledge Of Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Attracting and Training Tomorrow's Gerontologists: What Drives Student Interest in Aging?

Bergman

Erickson

Simons

2013

Educational Gerontology

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Demographic and labor force trends point to a critical need for professionals trained to work with older adults. The current study investigated factors associated with interest in aging-related topics and careers and knowledge of the opportunities that exist in the field of gerontology. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analyses were used to examine results of a survey of 300 college students representing a wide range of disciplines. Aging-related coursework and formal contact with older adults were related to greater interest in learning about and working with older adults, as were lower levels of anxiety and ageism. Experiential learning was related to greater interest in aging-related careers. Females and those who have studied aging had greater knowledge of the opportunities that exist in the field of gerontology. Lower levels of ageism were related to knowledge of the labor force shortages in aging-related fields. Students across disciplines need to be more widely informed about the opportunities that exist to work professionally with older adults. We recommend a two-pronged approach by gerontological educators. We suggest building opportunities for formal contact and interaction with older adults and reflection on these interactions into aging-related coursework wherever possible. Additionally, gerontological educators should seek opportunities to develop collaborations and infuse gerontological content into a variety of other courses in order to educate those who do not specifically take aging courses.

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Section: Contact With Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Sexmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Knowledge Of Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Attracting and Training Tomorrow's Gerontologists: What Drives Student Interest in Aging?

Bergman

Erickson

Simons

2013

Educational Gerontology

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“…However, those students who had previously worked with elderly patients reported more positive attitudes, which suggested that positive exposure to such persons diminished negative feelings about aging. Similarly, among social work students negative attitudes toward older adults regarding their productivity, adaptation, independence, and optimism were a result of little previous contact with elderly individuals and minimal knowledge about aging prior to attending graduate school (Gellis, Sherman, & Lawrence, 2003). In this study, age and gender also affected negative attitudes in that younger males reported more negative attitudes toward older adults when compared to their older female counterparts.…”

Section: Attitudes Toward Older Personsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Sensitizing Young Adults to Their Biases about Middle-Aged and Older Persons: A Pedagogical Approach

Hayslip

Caballero

Ward-Pinson

et al. 2012

Educational Gerontology

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“…Some of these challenges include, but are not limited to: recruiting and training students interested in gerontology, providing educational opportunities for older persons (Anderson, 1999), emphasizing service-learning as a key component of gerontological training (McKean, 2005), and combating ageism (Gellis, Sherman, & Lawrance, 2003).…”

Section: The Four Goals Of the Bridge Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building the “Bridge”: Linking Gerontology Education to a Local Retirement Community

Shippee

Schafer

Pallone

2008

Gerontology & Geriatrics Education

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There has been a substantial increase in the number of aging-related educational programs in the United States over the last two decades. Many of these programs utilize an experiential-learning approach, such as intergenerational service-learning, to train gerontology students to work effectively with older adults. This paper presents a model of training called the Bridge program, which is based in experiential learning and incorporates some of the broader goals of service-learning. Launched in 2003, the Bridge program involves graduate students residing in a retirement community for at least one academic year. The main goals of the program include: educating the students and the public about the aging process, recruiting future gerontologists, providing research opportunities for the Bridge students, and contributing to the retirement community. Evaluation of the program reveals several critical issues for successful implementation.

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First Year Graduate Social Work Students' Knowledge of and attitude Toward Older Adults

Cited by 117 publications

References 0 publications

Attracting and Training Tomorrow's Gerontologists: What Drives Student Interest in Aging?

Attracting and Training Tomorrow's Gerontologists: What Drives Student Interest in Aging?

Sensitizing Young Adults to Their Biases about Middle-Aged and Older Persons: A Pedagogical Approach

Building the “Bridge”: Linking Gerontology Education to a Local Retirement Community

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