Students report more positive attitudes toward older adults following an interprofessional service-learning course

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess undergraduate students’ perceptions of older adults over the semester in an interprofessional service-learning course that implemented a health promotion program called Bingocize® at community facilities for older adults. Students were surveyed at the beginning of the semester, at midterm, and at the conclusion of the course. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess the students’ perceptions and experiences. Results suggest that a course on aging that includes interprofessional service-learning in geriatric settings is associated with a significant increase in positive perceptions of the older adult population. Further research, however, is warranted to validate the findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Service-learning
• attitudes toward aging
• undergraduate education

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank our respective departments for providing us with the academic flexibility to combine aspects of two courses into a service-learning course. In addition, the authors appreciate the technical and editorial assistance from Catherine J. Martin, Anna McKay, and Maria P. Strunjas.

Notes

¹ ANOVA repeated measures included 46 student ASD scores due to missing data at one of the three data collection points.

² Paired t-tests included 52 student ASD scores comparing week 1 and week 9, 48 scores comparing week 9 and week 15, and 51 cases comparing 1 and 15 because of missing data at one of the two data collection points.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [PON2723 1700001509 1].