Preparing Health Professions Students to Care for Older Adults: Exploring Experiences with an E-learning Course

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.