Abstract
BackgroundIt is estimated by the year 2050, 80% of the global elderly population will be from the low-and middle income countries. Elderly care requires health workers with skills associated with an understanding of the biological, psychological, social and cultural theories related to aging. Nurses with better knowledge, skills and positive attitudes towards elderly care are highly needed and critically important for better healthcare and wellbeing of the elderly population. Therefore the objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of nursing students towards elderly care in Zanzibar Island.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Zanzibar involving three out of five nursing training institutions. Participants were selected by systematic random sampling. Facts on Aging Quiz 2 and Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People scale were used to assess the level of knowledge and attitude towards elderly care among the students respectively. Simple and multivariable logistic regressions were applied to determine the predictors of knowledge and attitude among the participants.ResultsA total of 393 students participated in this study. Only 17% (69) of the participants had good level of knowledge and about 67.9% (267) had positive attitude towards elderly care. Living in an extended family and with an elderly person at home were both associated with good level of knowledge and positive attitude towards elderly care. Furthermore, living in a rural area (adjusted odds ratio = 2.23; 95% confidence interval: 1.22, 4.10) and studying at public institution (adjusted odds ratio = 2.59; 95% confidence interval: 1.41, 4.63) were associated with positive attitude towards elderly care.ConclusionThis study has shown that the majority of nursing students in Zanzibar have positive attitude but poor level of knowledge towards elderly care. The current findings have demonstrated that past experience with an elderly person can help in influencing good knowledge and shaping positive attitudes towards elderly care. Low level of knowledge shown in the study suggests for further research on adequacy of nursing curriculum and/or its implementation.
Highlights
It is estimated by the year 2050, 80% of the global elderly population will be from the low-and middle income countries
The results showed that, participants living from extended family had four times odds of having positive attitudes on elderly care (AOR = 4.34; 95% Confidence interval (CI): 2.33, 8.09) compared to the matching part
This study has shown that the majority of nursing students have positive attitudes but poor knowledge on elderly care in Zanzibar
Summary
It is estimated by the year 2050, 80% of the global elderly population will be from the low-and middle income countries. Care requires health workers with skills associated with an understanding of the biological, psychological, social and cultural theories related to aging. Healthy ageing requires health systems that will be able to prevent chronic conditions or ensure early detection and control, of the decline in function capacity and managing of advanced chronic conditions [2]. Availability of these services are important in helping people navigate the health systems and collect the resources that will enable them to deal with the health issues that often arise in older age [7]
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