Exploring French Canadian high school students' interest in and perspectives of a career with older adults.

Abstract

For the next 30years, population aging will impact many facets of our society. Of specific concern is future human resources in the aging sector and related health fields. Every year, high school students make decisions related to their future careers, but few express interests in a career in aging. The goal of this study was to explore high school students' interest in and perspectives of a career in the field of aging. The specific objectives of the study were to identify high school students' perspectives of older adults, explore their level of interest in an aging-related career and understand the reasons for their level of interest for a career in aging. In this qualitative descriptive study, 41 French-speaking students in Grades 10 and 11 from an eastern Canadian province participated in a total of five focus group discussions where an educational video complemented the semi-structured interviews. Content analysis produced four common themes: perspectives of aging and older adults, exposure to aging in school, reasons for disinterest and increasing awareness and interest. Results indicate a lack of aging content or intergenerational activities in schools, whereas students made suggestions for better integration of aging content in the school curriculum. Future research with school guidance counsellors or educators would be beneficial in understanding aging content integration and student exposure to aging. Study limitations are also presented.