By Lisa Watts
A pilot course being developed at UMass Boston will help nursing students recognize and address ageism.
Gerontologists at the University of Massachusetts Boston are developing and testing a curriculum that reframes aging for university students, beginning with undergraduate and graduate nursing students. The course development and testing are funded by Point32Health Foundation as part of the foundation’s five-year commitment to support the Age-Friendly Massachusetts Action Plan.
“Ageist stereotypes and implicit and unconscious biases can have a negative impact on health,” says Alrie McNiff Daniels, director of communications and stakeholder engagement for Point32Health. “To change pervasive misperceptions about aging and older people, we need to talk about ageism with people of all ages. This project will raise awareness among college students and help them understand how entrenched ageist attitudes influence our behavior in a variety of settings.”
The interactive, integrated educational module will be piloted within health professions programs, such as nursing, social work, and gerontology.
“We want to familiarize students with ageism and its implications for health, teach them how to recognize ageism and the implications of implicit biases, and introduce strategies for reframing their own language so that they can spread those messages forward in their fields of study and professions,” says Caitlin Coyle, research fellow and adjunct assistant professor of gerontology at UMass Boston.
Learn more about the reframing aging curriculum project at the Gerontology Institute Blog.