6th Edition of World Nursing Science Conference 2026
Speakers - WNSC2024
Ahuva Even Zohar
- Designation: Senior lecturer, School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ariel University
- Country: Israel
- Title: The Willingness of Therapeutic Professions Students to Work with Older Adults The Effect of Educational Interventions
Abstract
Background and purpose: With the aging population, there is a need for more therapeutic professions in health services to treat older adults. However, students in therapeutic professions are not interested in working with older adults, either because of ageism, low prestige, or a lack of knowledge about aging. This study aimed to examine the effect of educational interventions on therapeutic professions students' willingness to work with older adults after graduation.
Methods: The sample included 187 students (studying nursing, social work, physiotherapy, and speech therapy) in the first semester of their first year of study, before their studies in courses about aging, and before they entered into practical training.
The study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the students filled out questionnaires about ageism, knowledge about aging, behavior towards older adults, a socio-demographic questionnaire, and questions about their willingness to work in the field of aging. In the second stage, the students were divided into a research group and a control group. The students in the research groups participated in an educational session dealing with aging interventions through a simulation and a movie. In the third stage, two months after the educational session, all the students filled out all the questionnaires again.
Results: The findings show that the lower the level of ageism among the students, the higher their willingness to work with older adults. In the examination of each profession separately, it was found that only among the students in the social work research group did the level of ageism decrease, and the behavior toward older adults became more positive after the educational session. In addition, ageism was a mediator variable between knowledge about aging and the willingness to work with older adults. It was also found that the greater the contribution of the educational session, the lower the level of ageism among the students; their behavior toward older adults was more positive, and they were more likely to consider working in the field of aging.
Conclusion and implication: With life expectancy extending, more therapeutic professions are needed to meet the needs of older people in various areas. To increase the choice of students to work in the field of aging, the curriculum should implement a variety of creative methods, such as simulations.
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