Psychometric properties of the Negative Stereotypes Towards Aging Questionnaire (CENVE) among a sample of Portuguese adults

Stereotyped beliefs about old age and the aging process have proven to strongly promote negative behaviors toward the elderly, with unfavorable influences on their mental and physical health. Therefore, it is important to assess negative aging attitudes with brief but reliable and validated measurement instruments. The psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Negative Stereotypes Towards Aging Questionnaire (15 items self-reported) are explored and described in a sample of 302 participants (213 females and 89 males) between the ages of 18 and 59 years old. Confirmatory Factor Analysis shows a one-factor structure, similar to the Spanish version. The internal reliability and mean inter-item correlation showed satisfactory psychometric proprieties. Factorial ANOVA reveals that differences in agism beliefs are mainly related to educational level, with lower negative stereotypes in more educated adults. No differences were found concerning gender. This instrument may be a useful tool to assess negative stereotypes toward old age and the aging process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DEVELOPMENTS: Advancing Geriatrics Education: Evaluation of a New Curricular Initiative

Background: This study describes the development of a required 1-week curricular program in geriatric medicine for 3rd-year medical students and presents 3 years of evaluation data. Description: Successful aging, heterogeneity of the aging population, and comprehensive geriatric assessment were emphasized. In addition to didactic sessions, students participated in panel discussions and small group case conferences, and performed history and physical examinations on older patients. Evaluation: Students\u27 acquisition of knowledge about geriatric medicine was assessed with pre-and posttests; posttest scores showed statistically significant improvement. Because attitudes toward older patients can impact the care provided, students\u27 completed pre- and postattitude assessment scales. Attitude measures were repeated for 2 student cohorts, 1 and 2 years after completion of the program. Independent t tests comparing mean pretest and posttest scores revealed significant improvement in students\u27 attitudes, which were maintained when attitudes were retested. Standardized mean difference scores were computed to measure the relationship between the educational intervention and students\u27 attitude measures. Conclusions: Time in the medical school curriculum is scarce, but these results indicate that significant improvements can be made in medical students\u27 attitudes toward and knowledge of older patients in 1 week

The contradiction between production and consumption as related to the study of crisis (4)

Abstract Objectives Further research into medical student attitudes towards older people is important, and requires accurate and detailed evaluative methodology. The two objectives for this paper are: (1) From the literature, to critically review instruments of measure for medical student attitudes towards older people, and (2) To recommend the most appropriate quantitative instrument for future research into medical student attitudes towards older people. Results A SCOPUS and Ovid cross search was performed using the keywords Attitude and medical student and aged or older or elderly. This search was supplemented by manual searching, guided by citations in articles identified by the initial literature search, using the SCOPUS and PubMed databases. International studies quantifying medical student attitudes have demonstrated neutral to positive attitudes towards older people, using various instruments. The most commonly used instruments are the Ageing Semantic Differential (ASD) and the University of California Los Angeles Geriatric Attitudes Scale, with several other measures occasionally used. All instruments used to date have inherent weaknesses. A reliable and valid instrument with which to quantify modern medical student attitudes towards older people has not yet been developed. Adaptation of the ASD for contemporary usage is recommended