Fostering Positive Attitudes Towards People With Dementia in Future Healthcare Professionals
Mentor 1
Sabine Heuer
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
Working with older adults is a part of many healthcare careers; however, most training programs do not provide specialized training to prepare students for this population. Specifically, ageism steers students in healthcare professions away from working with older adults and fosters negative attitudes, especially toward those with cognitive impairment such as dementia. Engaging students with people with dementia through service learning may increase comfort and knowledge levels. This study sought to measure changes in the attitudes of students towards PWD before and after their service learning assignments. Participants completed the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) at the beginning of the semester, prior to the service learning experience and again at the end of the semester, after completing the service learning. Respondents included a control group of 42 undergraduate students who participated in service learning with other populations, and the experimental group of 18 undergraduate students who engaged in service learning with people with dementia. A Mann-Whitney U test revealed no significant changes between the two groups on the DAS pre-assessment (z = -.44, p = .66) but significant group differences in overall ratings at the post-assessment (z = -3.65, p < .001). Further, only the attitude ratings for the group who engaged in service learning with PWD increased significantly from pre to post assessment (z = 3.44, p =.001). Service learning increased comfort and knowledge in those students who completed their experience with PWD. Service learning for undergraduate students with people with dementia is a low-risk, potentially high-yield practice that should be considered for inclusion into our degree programs that prepare students for careers in health care.
Fostering Positive Attitudes Towards People With Dementia in Future Healthcare Professionals
Union Wisconsin Room
Working with older adults is a part of many healthcare careers; however, most training programs do not provide specialized training to prepare students for this population. Specifically, ageism steers students in healthcare professions away from working with older adults and fosters negative attitudes, especially toward those with cognitive impairment such as dementia. Engaging students with people with dementia through service learning may increase comfort and knowledge levels. This study sought to measure changes in the attitudes of students towards PWD before and after their service learning assignments. Participants completed the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) at the beginning of the semester, prior to the service learning experience and again at the end of the semester, after completing the service learning. Respondents included a control group of 42 undergraduate students who participated in service learning with other populations, and the experimental group of 18 undergraduate students who engaged in service learning with people with dementia. A Mann-Whitney U test revealed no significant changes between the two groups on the DAS pre-assessment (z = -.44, p = .66) but significant group differences in overall ratings at the post-assessment (z = -3.65, p < .001). Further, only the attitude ratings for the group who engaged in service learning with PWD increased significantly from pre to post assessment (z = 3.44, p =.001). Service learning increased comfort and knowledge in those students who completed their experience with PWD. Service learning for undergraduate students with people with dementia is a low-risk, potentially high-yield practice that should be considered for inclusion into our degree programs that prepare students for careers in health care.
