GERONTOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS OF RELIGION

Stereotypes about aging and the old, both negative and positive, have significant influence upon older people themselves. Often unknowingly, older people incorporate these stereotypes into their own thinking and self-perceptions. A literature search revealed four primary hypotheses about the manner in which these self-stereotypes impact older people: stereotype threat, comparison, externalization, and internalization. Anecdotal examples of the four hypotheses are drawn from an unrelated research study that the authors are currently undertaking. Among these hypotheses, four basic characteristics of self-stereotypes are identified: (a) stereotypes can be negative or positive; (b) stereotypes have significant power, particularly if they are self-relevant; (c) stereotypes can be operative without awareness and influence physical and cognitive outcomes; and (d) negative stereotypes can be countered by positive priming. Due to their ability to significantly influence the cognitive and functional well-being of older people, further research is essential to better understand how these self-stereotypes function.     

GERONTOLOGICAL INTEREST AND OPINIONS OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine and analyze the opinions and interests in geriatrics, gerontology, and older people of physicians, registered nurses, and dentists; and (2) to make comparisons of the expressed interests and opinions between the three groups of practitioners. The instrument consisted of two parts, demographic information and 22 questions regarding the interest and training in geriatrics/gerontology and opinions of the health needs of the elderly. From the results obtained in this study implications for the future training of health care providers are discussed.     

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS AS MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS: THE IMPACT OF STAFFING RATIOS AND MEDICAID ON SERVICE PROVISIONS

As one out of five children in the United States demonstrate some type of mental or behavioral health concern warranting additional intervention, federal policies have emphasized the need for school‐based mental health (SBMH) services and an expansion of Medicaid reimbursement for eligible children and families. Most youth access mental health services at school; therefore, it is important to evaluate how staffing ratios, credentialing, and state Medicaid policies may influence school psychologists’ involvement in the delivery of SBMH services. A survey of 192 school psychologists found that as practitioner to student ratios increased, the availability and provision of SBMH services decreased. As state Medicaid policies have been found to influence the provision of mental health services at school, current study results demonstrate an association between state level Medicaid policies and the number of school psychologists qualified to bill for Medicaid‐reimbursable services. Implications for service delivery and policy development are discussed.     

THE IMPACT OF A GERONTOLOGICAL INTERVENTION ON OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL STUDENTS

In order to evaluate the impact of adding a brief unit on aging to the first‐year curriculum of a school of osteopathic medicine a quasiexperimental design was employed. The educational experience involved three hours of classroom material, a visit to a nursing home, and a visit to a congregate housing facility for the well elderly. Over one semester the entire first‐year class was scheduled for the program. Analysis of pretest and posttest data revealed a mild but significant improvement in knowledge and attitudes with respect to the elderly. Subjective responses to the program were very positive.     

EFFECTS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDLY VISIT PROGRAM ON THE ATTITUDES OF FOURTH GRADERS TOWARD ELDERS

This article describes the effects of an intergenerational friendly visit program on the attitudes toward the elders of one fourth grade class. Students visited with their elder "special friends" at a nursing home every week for five months. In-class lessons regarding students' knowledge and attitudes toward elders prepared students for the visits. The results of this qualitative study indicated that students gained a raised level of awareness regarding elders and the aging process. Their attitudes revealed a realistic view of both the positive and negative aspects of aging. Their attitudes toward their "special friends" were consistently positive and their empathy increased during the course of the study.     

THE VALUE OF GERONTOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE FOR ELDERS: A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE ON AGING AND WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE

Worry influences how we perceive and interpret new information. By filtering and distorting information to protect his or her belief systems, the worrier lowers the probability that new experience will result in new learning and, thus, personal growth is greatly reduced.

This study's major concern was to investigate the relationship between knowledge of aging and worry about the aging process among older and younger adults in Israel. Worry adds additional difficulty to daily living, interferes with problem‐solving ability, and lowers quality of life. The present study investigates the relationship between realistic, accurate knowledge of the aging process and the degree of worry experienced by older adults. The findings indicate that there is a clear and consistently significant relationship between years of education and both knowledge of aging and degree of worry about the commonly held negative stereotyped beliefs regarding old age.

The main finding of this study is that knowledge of aging is consistently associated with lower worry scores. The better educated respondents and those better informed about the facts on aging were found less vulnerable to worrisome beliefs that are inaccurate or have low probability of occurrence. The findings suggest the importance of increasing knowledge on aging through educational programming. Increased knowledge on aging can provide older persons with anticipatory socialization that can moderate stressful future events and make extreme worry an unnecessary and avoidable condition.     

ATTITUDES OF LITHUANIAN SERVICE PROVIDERS IN GERONTOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Having regained independence from Russia in 1990, Lithuania is in the process of developing a social service system to meet the needs of its older citizens. This paper describes the current situation of older persons in Lithuania and the early stages of gerontology education and gerontological service provision in that nation. Future social service providers (n = 22) who participated in one of Lithuania's first gerontological education training programs completed the 17 items of Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People Scale. Results indicate that future service providers hold generally neutral to positive attitudes toward older persons. The absence of negative attitudes toward older persons among the first generation of Lithuanian gerontological service providers bodes well for the development of gerontology education and services for older persons in Lithuania.     

IMPACT EVENTS AND THE MAXIMIZING OF EDUCATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT FUTURES

The author is concerned with the possibilities and limits of forecasting and maximizing models and the possible use of impact events in such models. His proposal on how and when to implement such models is of direct concern to administrators and decision‐makers in higher education.

Benjamin Hoffman is an educational planner specialized in forecasting models and survey tools applicable inside and outside of higher education system. Presently he is planning officer at the University Grants Commission, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.     

GERONTOLOGICAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS IN NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK: KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDES, AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS

Most health care and social service providers are routinely required to work with elderly clients and clients’ aging family members. Research suggests that students entering these professions have knowledge deficits and lack positive attitudes toward older people. Few prefer to work with aging clients. Professional curricula are not providing students with adequate training to serve the current needs of this population, much less to meet projected increases in demand for services. To examine this issue, 67 master's students in nursing and social work completed questionnaires assessing (1) knowledge about aging, (2) attitudes toward old people, and (3) perceived barriers to gerontological education. Results confirmed the existence of knowledge deficits among respondents. Attitudes tended to be neutral rather than strongly positive or negative. Knowledge scores were related to attitudes, to respondents’ ages, and to their having lived in households with older relatives. Nursing students identified the greatest barriers in gerontological education as insufficient curriculum time and lack of academic role models. Social work students perceived lower status of work with the elderly and limited experience with healthy older people as the greatest barriers. The two groups agreed that fragmentation of services contributes to inadequate gerontological preparation. Findings suggest a need for didactic and experiential learning opportunities, reinforced by appropriate academic role models, for students in service professions.     

COGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AGED OF DENTAL AND MEDICAL STUDENTS

The need for the incorporation of training in geriatrics and gerontology into basic medical and dental education has recently been recognized. Studies that have attempted to measure the attitudes of medical and dental students toward the aged have been extremely limited. The present study, part of a larger study of attitudes and knowledge among 700 health workers, examines the attitudes and knowledge of over 283 dental and medical students at different stages in their professional education, using Rosencranz and McNevin's Aging Semantic Differential and Palmore's Short Quiz on Facts on Aging. No significant deterioration or improvement in attitudes toward the aged was found in the course of medical and dental education. Correlational analysis revealed a complex relationship between knowledge and attitude scores.     

科学假说的信念成分及其对科学知识确定性的影响

科学假说作为对问题的一种试探性和推测性的断言,有信念的成分。由于人们对世界的无知和认识必须有一个确信的支点,使科学研究只能采取并围绕具有信念性的假说形式展开。正是科学假说的猜测性,使得从其出发经过推理论证所获得的科学知识具有更大的不确定性。科学家的工作,就是在经验事实材料与构想的理论假说之间来回穿梭,并试图借助于理性逻辑建立二之间的必然联系。但是这种必然性是不存在的,科学家正是在揭示那虚假的必然性中推动科学发展的。     

教育自传中的个人知识:关于"好教师"的调查研究

研究"好教师"的特征可以通过多种途径。研究者既可以直接观察教师的行为,也可以阅读教师本人撰写的专业论文,但真正有效的路径是让教师讲述自己的教育自传或个人生活史,让有关"好教师"的个人知识在教师的个人生活史的叙述中间接地显露出来。从大量的教育自传中,本研究得出基本结论认为:好教师有两个基本特征,一是那个教师"对我好";二是那个教师"有激情"。     

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS REGARDING THE HEALTH AND NUTRITION OF OLDER ADULTS

This study evaluated knowledge and attitudes of undergraduates regarding nutrition and health of the aged and students' intentions of pursuing career involvement with older adults. The participants evaluated were undergraduates from three mid-western universities (n=1,755). The majority of those surveyed were uninformed and unlikely to pursue career involvement with older adults. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.     

关于知识经济时代大学为社会服务特点的思考

知识经济时代大学成为社会生活的中心,大学为社会服务职能呈现出多样化、一体化、国际化和层次化等新的特点.这些新特点启示我们,我国大学应进一步增强为国家经济和社会发展服务意识,要根据各自大学的特点充分发挥大学应有的为社会服务职能,同时要注意防止服务不当现象.     

THE EDEN ALTERNATIVE: IMPACT ON STUDENT ATTITUDES

ABSTRACT

Nursing homes as clinical sites for student learning have the potential to produce negative attitudes toward aging. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to determine the impact of the Eden Alternative on the attitudes of students toward elders residing in nursing homes. Prior to beginning implementation of the Eden Alternative, 61 students completed the Health Professional Beliefs and Opinions about Elders. At 2 years after implementation of the Eden Alternative, 73 students completed the same survey. The second group reflected significantly more positive attitudes toward elders living in nursing homes.     

ACCIDENTAL HYPOTHERMIA AMONG THE ELDERLY: AN EDUCATIONAL PREVENTION PROGRAM

Accidental hypothermia, the unintentional drop in body temperature below 95 Fahrenheit from exposure to the cold, poses a significant health threat to people over 65. Faced with rising fuel costs and appeals to conserve energy, many older Americans may set their thermostats below 70 F and thus increase their risk of becoming hypothermia victims. This paper discusses the problem of hypothermia and specific factors that put older individuals at risk. Also described is the development, implementation, and evaluation of an educationally oriented prevention program.     

教育过程中知识的公共性与教育实践-兼批激进建构主义的教育观和课程观

教育过程中的知识具有公共性,并非是纯粹意义上的个人主观建构。现代主流的建构主义教育观与课程观,在本质上强调知识的社会建构。过于淡化教育过程中知识的公共性,将使教育实践陷入混乱无序的境地。     

CHANGING STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF AGING: THE IMPACT OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL SERVICE LEARNING COURSE

Ten individuals over the age of 55 were awarded scholarships in order to enroll in an intergenerational service learning course. Through class participation and community service activities, the traditional-age students and senior adult students shared experiences and learned about the processes of aging. A pretest-posttest design using a control group and experimental group (N = 44) was employed in order to assess the effectiveness of this pedagogical method. The results, both quantitative and qualitative, indicate that the course helped to create more realistic views of aging and foster more positive attitudes toward the elderly. Implications of the findings are discussed and include a recommendation for additional intergenerational programs that include senior adults in the classroom.     

THE IMPACT OF A DIFFERENTIAL SOCIAL POWER SYSTEM ON LATINOS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

The perceptions of Mexican American students’ school attitudes toward the community college and high school experiences were examined in relation to a high‐USPI (unequal social power influence) environment (higher percentage of Anglos than Mexican Americans) and a low‐USPI environment (lower percentage of Anglos than Mexican Americans). A three‐factor analysis of variance indicated significant differences in attitudes and school experiences.