Knowledge Of Older People Research Articles

Do written education materials that use content and design principles improve older people's knowledge?

Background/Aim: Information may inform and empower clients to engage in their health care. Information can be provided in written form, but it is only effective if it can be read and understood by clients. This study examined whether the knowledge acquisition of participants aged 65 years and older improved more after reading leaflets revised according to content and design principles compared to the leaflets in their original form. Methods: Seven participant pairs (mean age was 74 years, 79% were women), matched according to reading ability, read either the original or the revised versions of four leaflets used by occupational therapists with older clients. Knowledge before and after reading the leaflets was measured using true/false tests developed for each leaflet. Results: After adjusting for differences in baseline knowledge scores, participants who read the revised leaflets acquired 55.3% more knowledge than those who read the original leaflets. All but one participant preferred the revised versions of the leaflets. Conclusions: Simply written and clearly presented written education materials may improve clients’ understanding of the content. Further research is needed to determine if one or a combination of the content and design principles used to revise the leaflets is effective in increasing clients’ knowledge.

Knowledge and interest in ageing: a study of final‐year social work students

Objective: To evaluate social work students’ knowledge of older people's issues and their interest in working with older people in the future. Method: Fifty‐five final‐year students completed a questionnaire, including a knowledge/myths instrument and an interest scale. Independent variables included students’ prior contact with older people and exposure to a course on ageing. Results: Students achieved an average 70.4% success rate on the knowledge/myths instrument; no student got all answers correct. Interest levels were moderate with an average score of 5.13 on a 10‐point scale. Prior participation in ageing courses was positively correlated with knowledge of older people's issues and interest in working with older people. Conclusions: Correlations between course attendance and students’ knowledge and interest are in line with international findings. Such courses should challenge common myths associated with ageing and should promote social work with older people as skilled practice within complex health, welfare and family systems.

Physiotherapy students’ attitudes towards and knowledge of older people

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students' attitudes towards and knowledge of older people changed throughout the physiotherapy undergraduate program. Students' demographic information and attitudes towards and knowledge of older people were gathered via repeated question-responses over three points of time during the 4-year program. Validated instruments--the Geriatric Attitudinal Scale (GAS) and the Facts on Ageing Quiz 1 (FAQ1)--were used to measure participants' attitudes and knowledge of older people. The FAQ1 yielded two variables: knowledge as percentage of FAQ1 correct responses, and ignorance as percentage of FAQ1 Don't Know responses. The instruments were administered in Year 2 prior to the students' first clinical (Time 1), immediately after their first clinical (Time 2), and Year 4 just prior to completion of the program (Time 3). Changes over time were analysed using paired t-tests with significance set at p < 0.05. Participants initially demonstrated positive attitudes towards older people with a mean of 73.8% GAS positive responses with no significant change over time (p = 0.56). Initial knowledge about older people was poor with a mean of 43.6% FAQ1 correct responses which increased significantly over time to 51.7% (p = 0.0001). This improvement in knowledge was accompanied by a decrease in ignorance over the study period (p = 0.0001). While attitudes toward older people were positive and knowledge improved over time, the level of knowledge attained was below expectation for beginning practitioners. This finding has implications for the education and training of physiotherapy students.

Older people and substitute decision making legislation: limits to informed choice

Objective: To explore older people's knowledge and experience of the law relating to assisted and substitute decision making in Queensland.Method: The sample (N=377) comprised older people and their families living in metropolitan Brisbane (n=242) and South West rural Queensland (n=29) and residents living in aged care facilities and retirement villages and their family carers in Brisbane (n=106). The data collection involved 48 focus groups and 29 individual interviews. A thematic analysis of the data sought to make links to a range of social variables used to draw the sample.Results: In the majority of focus groups and individual interviews, older people had a limited or low understanding of the law relating to substitute decision making. Structural factors of lower income, cultural background, disability, rural location, nursing home residence and gender can limit ability to make informed choices and are likely to increase the risk of financial abuse.Conclusion: There is a need to raise community awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of substitute decision making arrangements and to provide educative strategies to address commonly held misconceptions about the nature of enduring powers of attorney provisions.

Using focus groups to explore older people's attitudes to end of life care

This paper reports on the methodological and ethical issues that were encountered when using focus groups to explore older people's knowledge, beliefs and risk perceptions about the use of innovative health technologies in end of life care. Older people drawn from community organisations in Sheffield, England, took part in discussions about the application of ‘life prolonging’ and ‘comfort care’ technologies during serious illness and impending death. The paper offers a reflective account of the management of recruitment and informed consent, and of the issues that arose when facilitating group discussions of potentially distressing material. It concludes with a brief account of the steps that were taken to enhance the ‘credibility’ of the data.

Older people's knowledge and practice about lifestyle behaviors that may prevent vascular dementia

This study examined the relationship between knowledge and practice of healthy lifestyle behaviors in the prevention of vascular dementia. Data presented here are derived from a convenience sample of 296 participants recruited through senior citizen agencies in Australia. Lifestyle was measured using the Health-promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). Seven knowledge subscales were developed, consistent with the HPLP. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Correlations among the lifestyle and knowledge indicated statistically significant results. However, the strength of these associations was generally weak. Multivariate analysis found that six variables explained 20% of the variance in the lifestyle score. These included: knowledge of interpersonal relations, knowledge of physical activity, medical knowledge, medical history, self-assessment of general health, and use of alcohol. The results indicate that knowledge, by itself, does not necessarily ensure that people engage in self-practising healthy lifestyle behaviors, and those who experience illness and, perhaps exposure to risk factors, had higher HPLP scores. Recommendations for how older people can be supported to reduce some of the attitudinal barriers that reduce healthy lifestyle behaviors are discussed.

Wilkes, L., LeMeiere, J. and Walker, E. 1998. Nurses in an acute care setting: attitudes to and knowledge of older people, Geriaction, 16, 1, 9–16.

Wilkes, L., LeMeiere, J. and Walker, E. 1998. Nurses in an acute care setting: attitudes to and knowledge of older people, <i>Geriaction</i>, <b>16</b>, 1, 9–16.