PERPETUATION OF AGEIST ATTITUDES AMONG PRESENT AND FUTURE HEALTH-CAREPERSONNEL - IMPLICATIONS FOR ELDER CARE

The population of the western world is greying rapidly. By the year 20 25, people over the age of 65 will make up 20% of the population of th e USA. By the year 2000, one-half of elderly people in the United King dom (UK) will be over the age of 75. The increasing numbers of elderly people will be spending from 18% (males) to 27% (females) of their ad ded years as impaired, disabled and frail individuals. The purposes of this comparative descriptive study were to: (a) describe and compare the attitudes of registered nurses (RNs) and health career work study students (HCS) who work with elderly people in the clinical setting; a nd (b) determine whether relevant demographic variables of the two gro ups were related to their attitudes. A convenience sample of 82 RNs an d 68 HCSs were asked to complete Kogan's (1961) Attitudes Toward Old P eople Scale (KOP). Response to the survey was 91% and 74% for the HCS and RN groups respectively. There was a significant difference between the group mean scores with students holding less favourable attitudes toward elderly people on the KOP-negative scale. No significant diffe rence was found on the KOP-positive scale. Point-biserial correlations between demographic variables and attitude scores revealed that gende r and ethnicity were significantly related to RNs attitudes - males an d blacks and Asians expressed more unfavourable attitudes. Educational level and primary area of clinical work were significantly associated with students' scores on the KOP-negative scale, while years of clini cal experience was significantly related to KOP-positive scale scores. While both groups held attitudes that were more favourable than unfav ourable, RNs and HCSs expressed stereotypical views about old people i n general. Recommendations for nursing education and nursing service a re proposed to prevent the negative impact on future care elderly peop le that the findings suggest.