Geriatric competency and attitudes toward older adults among Turkish undergraduate social work students

Oral M., Kılıç C., Yıldırım B.

GERONTOLOGY & GERIATRICS EDUCATION, cilt.2024, sa.45, ss.52-66, 2024 (ESCI)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 2024 Sayı: 45
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/02701960.2022.2143356
  • Dergi Adı: GERONTOLOGY & GERIATRICS EDUCATION
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, AgeLine, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.52-66
  • Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The need for social workers educated about aging and eager to work with older adults will increase significantly as the older adult population rises rapidly. It is essential to determine the attitudes and competencies of social workers prepared to work in this field. This study aimed to evaluate Turkish undergraduate social work students’ attitudes toward older adults and their geriatric social work competency. A cross-sectional descriptive correlational research design was used in the study. The study included 308 fourth-year undergraduate students attending a social work program. Participants were selected by convenience sampling. The results indicated that students had slightly positive attitudes toward older people. As for the geriatric competency, the students rated highest in applying “values, ethics, and theoretical perspectives” and lowest in the “aging services, programs, and policies.” Geriatric social work competence was strongly associated with positive attitudes toward older adults. These findings indicate the need to implement new learning opportunities early in academic programs to improve social work students’ attitudes toward older adults and increase their knowledge and skills to address the aging population’s needs.