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Paper Presentation

Gero-Ed (Aging and Gerontology)

Session: Attitudes and Accessibility in Aging Services

Undergraduate Student Attitudes Toward and Interests in Working with Older Adults: An Exploratory Study

As the world's population ages, the demand for competent and skilled workers to assist older adults is rapidly increasing. This session presents the findings from an exploratory study of undergraduate nursing and social work majors. Results raise concerns about future workforce shortages in settings serving older adults.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, attendees should be able to:
  1. Upon completion, the participant will be able to identify the current attitudinal barriers that may inhibit social work students from working with older adults in the future.
  2. Upon completion, the participant will be able to identify current ageist beliefs that may interfere with competent practice with older adults by social work graduates, further inhibiting aging/disability justice.
  3. Upon completion, the participant will be able to make curricular modifications to current social work educational programs to enhance interest and competence in working with older adults.