الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The global population is aging rapidly. Every country in the world is facing an
increase in the number and proportion of elderly people in their population. The rapid rise of the older population occurs along with considerable social and economic changes, as well as a high level of political challenge in society today, placing significant pressure on both communities and families to provide adequate and effective care for their elderly members.
Ageism is age-based prejudices, bias, and discrimination against others or oneself. It has detrimental effects on health, longevity, and well-being, as well as extensive economic consequences. It affects every area of healthcare, from diagnosis to prognosis, and furthermore as well as the nursing field. To enhance patient outcomes, nursing students must be appropriately equipped with sufficient theoretical knowledge to guide their clinical practices, abilities, and favorable attitudes toward the elderly. The aim of the present study was to assess knowledge and attitudes regarding the care of elders among technical nursing students and to identify possible determinants related to attitudes towards the care of elders.
To fulfill this aim, a cross-sectional study design was conducted at the Technical Institute of Nursing in Alexandria University. The target population was technical nursing students from both grades and both sexes, with the total sample taken was 471 students. The study sample was recruited from all available nursing students in the academic year (2020-2021) from both grades (grade 1 & grade 2) who agreed to participate in the study.
For the execution of this work, a predesigned structured self-administrated questionnaire was designed to collect socio-demographic data, the experiences of the students in elder care, and contact with the elders, including; working in the field of nursing, having contact with old people in their families, previous work in elderly care (formal or informal), receiving any lectures on gerontological nursing, receiving any clinical training on elder care, and being willing to work with elders after graduation. Also, students were subjected to knowledge about aging questions which were composed of 30 questions with higher scores indicating a higher level of knowledge. Ageism was assessed using the Arabic version of the Fraboni Scale on Ageism (FSA), which is composed of 29 questions that were designed to measure both the cognitive and emotional aspects of ageism, with a total score ranging from 29 to 116, and higher scores mean higher levels of ageism.
The result of the present study revealed the following:
• The mean age of the study sample was (19.57±.862); more than half of the students (53.3%) were aged 20 to 21 years old. Most of the sample study were females (67.9%), and more than half of the study samples were second grade (55.2%).
• Nearly two-thirds of the sample (66.2%) were living in rural areas, and the majority of the study sample were living in nuclear families (96.6%), while only (3.3%) of them were living in extended families.
• More than two-thirds of the study sample (69.6%) didn’t work in the field of nursing yet. The majority of the study sample did not receive any lectures on gerontological nursing, or clinical training in elder care (77.9% and 84.5%, respectively).
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• Most of the study sample (90.0%) were in contact with old people in their families, and nearly half of them (49.5%) had previous experience in elderly care. More than half of them (59.0%) were interested in working with elders after graduation.
• The total mean score of knowledge about aging was 14.52±3.01. Most of them 99.4%, had moderate to low levels of knowledge, and the highest mean score of knowledge (15.96 ± 3.24) was among the age group (20-21 years).
• No significant differences were found between knowledge scores as regards fathers’ and mothers’ education (p= 0.754 and 0.888 respectively) and also, as regards fathers’ and mothers’ occupation (p=0.617 and 0.445 respectively).
• The highest mean score of knowledge (14.97±2.98) was among the students who belonged to families with a crowding index of more than two (>2), and this was statistically significant (p=0.049).
• The students who had previous experience in elder care were found to have significantly higher mean scores of knowledge (14.84±2.91) compared to students who did not have experience in elder care (14.20±3.08, p=0.005).
• The mean score of knowledge among the students who were willing to work with elders after graduation was higher (14.76±2.92) compared with those who were not willing to work with elders after graduation (14.16±3.10, P=0.030).
• No significant differences in knowledge scores were found as regards: working in the nursing field, receiving lectures or clinical training in the geriatric field (p= 0.683, 0.227, and 0.079, respectively).
• The total mean score of the Fraboni scale of ageism was 67.97 ± 10.19. The highest mean score of Ageism (69.46±10.53) was among the age group (18-19), and the lowest mean score (66.68±9.75) was among the age group (20-21); this difference was statistically significant (p=0.013).
• There was a significant difference between ageism and gender (p=0.002) in which males have a mean score of ageism (70.0 ± 10.74) versus (66.96 ± 9.77) for females. It was found that grade (1) had a higher mean score of ageism (69.45 ± 10.47) compared to grade (2) (66.79 ± 9.82); this difference was statistically significant (p=0.005).
• No significant differences in mean ageism score were found as regards residence, family type, working in the field of nursing, and contact with elders (p=0.143, 0.479, 0.630, and 0.152, respectively).
• As regards the experience in elder care, the students who did not work in elders care were found to have a higher mean score of Ageism (68.68 ± 9.94) compared to students who had previous work in elder care (67.27 ± 10.41), however, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.133).
• The mean score of ageism among the students who were not willing to work with elders after graduation was significantly higher (70.7 ± 10.29) compared with those who were willing to work with elders after graduation (66.06 ± 9.68, P=0.000).
• Statistically significant negative correlation was found between the knowledge about aging and the Fraboni scale of Ageism (r =- 0.189 & p=0.000)
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• Statistically significant positive correlations were found between Fraboni Scale of Ageism and its subcategories; antilocution, discrimination and avoidance (r= 0.809, p=0.000, r= 0.221, p=0.000 and r= 0.904, p=0.000, respectively)
• After applying multiple linear regression analysis, three variables proved to be significant predictors of ageism among nursing students: being male (B=3.362, p= 0.001), uneducated fathers (B=3.963, p= 0.020), and students with a low level of knowledge about aging (B= -0.616, p= 0.000).
6.2. Conclusion
The current cross-sectional study revealed that most of the nursing students at the Technical Institute of Nursing in Alexandria University had moderate to low level of knowledge about aging and most of them had a negative attitude toward the elderly. The results indicated that having previous experiences in elder care and willing to work with elders are significant factors associated with students’ knowledge about aging. Ageism was commonly found among males and those who were not willing to work in elder care after graduation. Males, low fathers’ education, and lower knowledge about aging were predictors of ageism among nursing students
6.3. Recommendations
Based on the study findings, the following items are recommended:
➢ Developing an educational program to increase technical nursing students’ understanding and attitudes toward elderly care and the aging process.
➢ Identifying new teaching and training strategies in gerontology to increase student interest in the discipline in order to develop and promote nursing students to provide the highest level of health care services for the elderly.
➢ Integrating learning programs that stimulate socialization with elders into the curriculum to develop a positive attitude toward them.
➢ Increase the family, institutions, and community awareness about the aging process, and physiological changes of the elderly through mass media, social media, and intergenerational programs to change negative attitudes and stereotypes that may present.
➢ Conducting future research and investigation on ageism in different health sectors that provide care for the elderly to assess their attitudes and knowledge about them.