Ageism Among Health Professionals: A Comparison of Clinical Educators and Students in Physical and Occupational Therapy

Abstract

Negative attitudes towards aging can be a substantial obstacle to the delivery of quality health care to older adults. This study compared the attitudes towards older people and knowledge of aging held by clinical educators and students in physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Participants (n = 175) completed a questionnaire that consisted of the Kogan scale concerning attitudes towards older people, Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz version 1, and questions concerning social interaction with older people and demographic information. The clinical educators of both professional groups had significantly higher attitudinal scores than the student participants in this study. After controlling for the effect of age, clinical educators had a significantly lower negative bias on the Facts on Aging Quiz than the students. Significantly higher positive bias scores on the FAQ1 were reported by the occupational therapy students and clinical educators in comparison to their physiotherapy counterparts. A stronger curriculum emphasis throughout the academic programme together with increased clinical placements in settings providing care for older people may be necessary to better equip students for the workplace.