ERIC Number: EJ1044532
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0360-1277
EISSN: N/A
Evaluating the Efficacy of a Short Aging Simulation Workshop for an Interdisciplinary Group of Health-Care Employees at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Halpin, Sean N.
Educational Gerontology, v41 n3 p207-215 2015
Several interventions aimed at increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among health-care professionals have been introduced. These interventions tend to focus on a small subset of clinical employees, ignoring other clinical and nonclinical hospital staff. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a short aging simulation workshop toward increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among a multidisciplinary group of workshop participants using a pre/post quasiexperimental design. Four hundred seventy six new employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs completed the Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (KOP) immediately before and after participating in a short aging simulation workshop. Significant pre- to-posttest increases in KOP scores were identified for nurses, physicians, psychologists, other clinical employees, and nonclinical employees, but not among medical support assistants, nurse assistants, and social workers. There existed no significant differences between each group's pretest scores; however, staff of higher educational achievement had significantly higher posttest scores as compared to persons of lower educational status. This short aging simulation workshop was successful in increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among staff who had higher educational achievement.
Descriptors: Veterans, Older Adults, Medical Services, Academic Achievement, Pretests Posttests, Scores, Intervention, Positive Attitudes, Health Personnel, Hospitals, Aging (Individuals), Simulation, Workshops, Quasiexperimental Design, Attitude Change
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: US Department of Veterans Affairs
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A