Ageism webinars: a needs-based continuing education training for the national aging network

ABSTRACT

To combat ageism, the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) launched two Ageism Webinars (AWs). The study’s aims were to 1) assess the effectiveness of the AWs for increasing participants’ perceived familiarity (FAM) and knowledge (KNOW) and producing high behavioral intent to implement recommended action steps and quality among participants, and 2) practice equitable evaluation by ascertaining whether outcomes were fairly achieved by participants regardless of race, age, and education. A convenience sample of mostly educated non-Hispanic females with an average age of 52 years (n = 193) completed a retrospective online survey post-webinar. A retrospective Likert scale noted an overall increase in perceived FAM and KNOW (p < 0.001). However, these changes were significantly smaller (p < 0.05) among those from historically marginalized races and ethnicities. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) items predicted high intention to complete the recommended action step following the webinars. High satisfaction for webinars was reported, with 98.7% wanting to attend future NRCNA training. This study provides evidence of an effective training modality for addressing ageist perspectives, and the demonstrated differences provide insight into how to improve the AWs and the evaluation of future webinars.

KEYWORDS:

• Ageism
• program evaluation
• professional development
• webinar
• Older Americans Act
• retrospective survey
• equitable evaluation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The NRCNA recognizes services are not one size fits all, therefore we celebrate the diversity of the older adult population by respecting the needs of those various life experiences. For the full NRCNA Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) statement, see this page (https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/nutrition/IDEA%20Statement%202.7.2023.pdf).

2. “Acting White” in an educational setting has been seen as a negative characteristic among black and Hispanic adult learners (Durkee, Gazley, Hope, & Keels, 2019).

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported in part by grant number 90PPNU0002, from the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.