Correlates of Entering Medical Students' Attitudes Toward Geriatrics

Factors Influencing College Students to Choose Careers Working With Elderly Persons

“…Several studies have examined attitudes toward the elderly and whether such attitudes are related to career aspirations (Angiullo, Witbourne, & Powers, 1996;Davis-Berman & Robinson, 1989;Downe-Wamboldt & Melanson, 1990;Greenhill, 1983;Rose-Colley & Eddy, 1988;Wilderom et al, 1990). Laboratory experiences, courses in gerontology and exposure to elders have all been found to have a positive impact on attitudes (Angiullo, et al, 1996 Mosher-Ashley & Ball, 1999;Shoemake & Rowland, 1993.)…”

“…Greenhill (1983) found that although nurses' attitudes toward older adults improved after courses on long-term care and clinical experiences in nursing homes, these experiences did not change their preference for working with them. Other studies have found that most individuals, even in traditional caregiving occupations e.g., medicine and occupational therapy), expressed a clear preference to work with younger adults, (MacNeil, 1991;Wilderom, et al, 1990). MacNeil (1991) proposed that this may be because working with an older adult is a reminder of one's own mortality.…”

Group-Based Differences in Anti-Aging Bias Among Medical Students

“…This study used separate measures for explicit bias (e.g., self-report instruments), whereas measures of automatic behavior, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT), will imply implicit bias (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). The evaluation of explicit age bias in medical students (MS) has produced inconsistent findings, with some studies showing negative attitudes (Brooks, 1993;Madan et al, 2001;Perrotta, Perkins, Schimpfhauser, & Calkins, 1981;Reuben, Fullerton, Tschann, & Croughan-Minihane, 1995;Ten Haken, Woolliscroft, Smith, Wolf, & Calhoun, 1995) and others providing evidence of neutral or positive attitudes (Fitzgerald, Wray, Halter, Williams, & Supiano, 2003;Kishimoto, Nagoshi, Williams, Masaki, & Blanchette, 2005;Wilderom et al, 1990). However, self-report may be influenced by socially desirable responding, answering style, interpretations of individual item wording, or limits of participant memory (Amodio & Devine, 2006;Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner, 2002;Puhl & Brownell, 2006;Puhl, Schwartz, & Brownell, 2005).…”

Ageism and Intervention: What Social Work Students Believe About Treating People Differently Because of Age

“…Among those investigated were social workers and social work students (Carmel, Cwikel, & Galinsky, 1992;Kane, 1999a;Kane, Hamin, & Hawkins, In press-a, In press-b;Rohan, Berkman, Walker, & Holmes, 1994), 768 M. N. Kane physicians and medical students (Beall, Baumhover, Novak, Edwards, Plant, & Pieroni, 1992;Beall, Baumhover, Simpson, & Pieroni, 1991;Bowling, 1999;Gleberzon, 2002;Pettersen, 1995;Robins & Wolf, 1989;Wilderom et al, 1990), and nurses and nursing students (Beall et al, 1992;Geiger, 1978;Gomez, Young, & Gomez, 1991;Rowland & Shoemake, 1995;Weiler & Sarvela, 1993). Ageist perceptions are found in both dominant and minority cultures (Kane, 2000).…”