Attitudes of Social Gerontology and Physiotherapy Students Towards the Elderly

Background/Goal. Attitudes towards older persons are particularly important for healthcare students and practitioners. The aim of our work is to analyse the attitudes of social gerontology and physiotherapy students towards elderly persons.

Method. A structured questionnaire using the Kogan Attitudes towards Older People scale (KAOP) was used to collect data. Statistical methods were applied to evaluate the data: reliability test, t-test for independent samples and bivariate correlational analysis.

Results. Social gerontology and physiotherapy students accept the elderly with awareness and respect. Few age-related prejudices and stereotypes were found among them, and they do not problematise the elderly. Social gerontology students have more positive attitudes towards the elderly than physiotherapy students do. Male students and students who live in the same household with elderly persons are more appreciative towards them, but they have more prejudices; the same applies to a lesser extent to students who do not live in the same household with an elderly person.

Conclusion. Although minor deviations from a positive attitude were found, probably resulting from different experiences with elderly people, the results of this study raise hopes that respectful relations and cooperation across age groups will continue.