“I Got Old in a Day”: Attitudes of Intern Doctors Toward Older Adults After an Aging Simulation and Reflection-Based Intervention

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of an educational intervention that creates self- awareness through role playing and reflection on intern physicians' attitudes towards the elderly. Methods: For the ageing game, 217 intern physicians took part in this study, whose eyes were covered with transparent tape and blurred with glasses, cotton wool was stuffed in their ears, and small stones were placed under their shoes so that they could hardly walk and could not hear. They went grocery shopping, to the doctor's office, and made phone calls in their aged versions. The UCLA Geriatric Attitude and Kogan Attitudes Toward the Elderly Scales were administered to the group before and after the game. Results: The mean age was 24.01±1.28 years, and 55.8% (n=121) were female. For male and female interns, the mean UCLA Geriatric Attitude_Pre score was 41.75±5.91 and 41.83±6.11 respectively, while the mean UCLA Geriatric Attitude_Post score was 43.43±5.23 and 43.68±4.78. Males had 90.14±14.42 and 90.04±14.33 points on The Kogan Attitudes Toward Older People Scale_Pre and The Kogan Attitudes Toward Older People Scale_Post, respectively, while female interns had 93.96±13.2 and 94.38±11.96 points on The Kogan Attitudes Toward Older People Scale_Pre and The Kogan Attitudes Toward Older People Scale_Post. Women and men differed in both pre- and post questionnaires. Conclusion: The scores of intern doctors who scored above average on both scales before playing the game remained the same afterwards, indicating that the game did not cause a sudden, detectable change in their attitudes. This study clearly demonstrates the difficulty of changing the attitudes of final-year medical students towards the elderly and the limitations of one-off, physically focused simulations. Keywords: aging, medical education, role playing, empathy, attitude

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