During a time of increasing shortages in the eldercare workforce, attracting new workers to the field is imperative. It can be difficult to engage students in the field. One method to engage students with aging is through oral history assignments. This study explored the impact of an active assignment (interviewing an older adult) compared to a…

In the past two decades, deaths from stroke, heart disease and HIV decreased, whereas reported deaths from age-related Alzheimer's disease (AD) have increased. Future nurses will be caring for the rapidly escalating number of older adults facing increased AD risk, yet nursing students' knowledge has been shown to be limited regarding the…

Ageism can negatively affect everyday interactions with older adults, social policies, healthcare practices, and the physical and cognitive outcomes of aging. Reducing ageism among young adults can improve the lives of older adults and allow for optimal aging. The current study investigates whether a psychology course on aging with a…

The importance of gerontology-focused classroom and field education has been emphasized heavily in social work education for decades as the population of older adults continues to expand, as does the need to provide services to support the health and well-being of older adults. Although the need for social workers and other professionals who…

The rising number of older adults increases the need for more workers willing and capable of working with the aging population. However, ageism presents a challenging barrier to overcome. This study aimed to determine the relationship between ageism, self-efficacy, and career interest across a semester; the impact of participating in aging-related…

The Intergenerational Forum (IF), an innovative intervention, offers andragogic programs for community-dwelling older adults, enabling them to engage in youth-led tutorials to learn about Information Communication Technology (ICT). This study examines the outcome of a 12-week class focused on encouraging intergenerational exchange and mutual aid…

Experiential learning and reflection activities are often used to enhance students' understanding of and attitudes toward aging; however, deep reflection is difficult to achieve, and research shows students demonstrate varying abilities to reflect. This study examined the extent to which students in a third-year gerontology course were able to…

The number of Americans with dementia is expected to triple in 30 years. A workforce prepared to care for those persons is critical. A unique course at Arizona State University was created to address that need. Students enrolled in a course with weekly lectures by professionals working in dementia care, and also visited a person living with…

The lack of adequate numbers of people working with older adults in an aging society implies the potential of attracting students from other disciplines to the field. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 52 Chinese psychology students who took a gerontological psychology course designed to prepare them for aging-related careers. As…

This study was designed to investigate the impacts of self-arranged nursing home observation sessions on healthcare students' attitudes toward older adults. Sixty-seven undergraduate students enrolled in a gerontology course were required to complete an attitudes survey at the beginning and the end of the semester. In addition, they conducted 3…

Intergenerational service-learning for undergraduate students seeks to generate interest about the older adult population, while increasing knowledge and improving attitudes about aging and reducing ageism. It is difficult to make an impact on students' views in a short time period, such as an academic quarter. This comparative effectiveness…

The project described in this paper was designed for an undergraduate course titled the "Psychology of Adulthood and Aging". This course, capped at 20 students, is typically comprised of psychology, pre-nursing, and family studies students. The student learning objectives (SLO's) for the course are: (1) to understand and apply current…

In the study of gerontology, fieldwork with older adults is often used to enhance students' understanding of the aging process. While assignments based on interactions with older adults are a common practice in teaching students enrolled in gerontology studies, we know less about the impact of such activities on students from other disciplines.…

In the "Through their Eyes Project" health sciences students are partnered with older adults to explore and assess the age-friendliness of their neighborhood. Using an innovative data collection tool -- 'moving interviews' -- these intergenerational research teams learn about the community and each other by traveling, observing, and…

The present study assessed knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults in a sample of 271 Non-Hispanic White and African-American undergraduates. Research examining racial differences in knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults has been sparse. Results for the current…