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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/21433
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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.advisor | Jung, Bonny | - |
dc.contributor.author | Kalun, Portia | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-05-17T19:53:53Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2017-05-17T19:53:53Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2017-11 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/21433 | - |
dc.description.abstract | As the population of older adults increases over the next 20 years, students in health professions programs must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to care for older adults. Unfortunately, some students hold negative attitudes towards older adults, which can negatively affect older patients. In order to prepare students to provide care for older adults, this study piloted an e-learning course that covered communication with older adults, common stereotypes of aging, and information about the typical versus atypical aging processes. The purpose of this thesis study was to explore the experiences of health professions students with the course with respect to attitudes towards older adults and collaborative care. A mixed methods design was used and participants were students from health professions programs (medicine, occupational therapy, nursing). The initial, quantitative strand sought to determine the influence of the course on attitudes towards older adults, according to a geriatrics attitudes survey. The qualitative strand followed with the intent to add meaning to the quantitative results; it explored participants’ experiences with the course and older adult care, and consisted of interviews with the participants. Although quantitative findings did not reveal a change in attitudes as measured by the geriatric attitudes survey, the participants did report increased knowledge about older adult care after completing the course. The participants’ experiences in older adult care were consistent with theories in the literature, such as the informal curriculum in older adult care. The participants also reported integrating knowledge from the course into their learning, which is encouraging as there is little evidence to show that online interventions result in changes in behaviour and/or patient care. Overall, online interventions, such as the course in this study, have the potential to improve older adult care through increased knowledge about aging and collaborative care, and the translation of this knowledge into practice. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.title | Preparing Health Professions Students to Care for Older Adults: Exploring Experiences with an E-learning Course | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
dc.contributor.department | Health Science Education | en_US |
dc.description.degreetype | Thesis | en_US |
dc.description.degree | Master of Science (MSc) | en_US |
dc.description.layabstract | As the population of older adults increases, students in health professions programs (medicine, occupational therapy, nursing, etc.) must be prepared to care for older adults. Unfortunately, some students hold negative attitudes towards older adults, which can negatively affect older patients. The purpose of this thesis was to explore students’ experiences with an e-learning course that aimed to prepare them for older adult care. The students completed a survey before and after the course to measure their attitudes towards older adults. They were also interviewed about their experiences with the course. Although quantitative findings did not reveal a change in attitudes, the course did increase their knowledge about older adult care. Some of the students integrated this knowledge with other learning experiences. Overall, this course has the potential to improve older adult care by increasing health profession students’ knowledge about aging, which might influence how they care for patients in practice. | en_US |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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kalun_portia_s_2017may_msc.pdf | 1.43 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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