By Geralyn Magan
A new study will evaluate whether a video-based training program on ageism has any effect on workers’ self-reported attitudes about aging, and their behaviors, job satisfaction, and intent to leave the job.
Researchers at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA, are launching a new study to evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based workforce training program focusing on ageism.
The training program was developed in 2018 by a VCU team led by Dr. Tracey Gendron, interim chair and associate professor in the university’s Department of Gerontology. LeadingAge provided a grant for that work as a way to support its vision of “An America Freed from Ageism.”
Over the next year, LTSS Center and VCU researchers will work together to evaluate whether the training program has any effect on workers’ self-reported attitudes about aging, and their behaviors, job satisfaction, and intent to leave the job. The evaluation is funded by the Retirement Research Foundation.
“There’s evidence that negative attitudes about one’s own aging are correlated with adverse health outcomes,” says Dr. Taryn Patterson, who represents the LTSS Center on the research team. “People who have positive perceptions of aging live more than 7 years longer than people with negative perceptions of aging. Our goal is to measure whether this training helps workers become more aware of how they perceive their own ageist beliefs so they can, hopefully, modify those perceptions.”
THE AGEISM TRAINING PROGRAM
The ageism intervention is designed as a 1-hour in-service training for people working with older adults in a variety of settings. At the heart of the training program is a 10-minute video featuring 3 distinct segments. Participants view the entire video at the beginning of the training session. This is immediately followed by a targeted review and discussion of each of the 3 segments.
The training curriculum is designed to help participants:
- Recognize ageism;
- Understand how ageism is communicated and transmitted; and
- View examples of how to disrupt ageism in personal, professional, and organizational practice.
In addition to the video, the training package includes a guide for session facilitators and a reflection workbook for participants. The workbook reiterates key learning objectives presented in the video and presents written exercises to help participants reflect on the experiences of growing older, how we learn about being an older person, and how to develop goals for behavioral change.
During the yearlong study, video training sessions will be presented to direct care workers and supervisory staff at 15 intervention sites.
“We’re including manager-level staff in the training to make sure that everyone in the organization is on the same page regarding their awareness of ageism,” says Patterson. “Potentially, if everyone is trained in the same way, you would see longer lasting effects.”
Patterson stresses that the video training does not try to modify specific ageist behaviors.
“This is not an intervention that tells you what you shouldn’t say or do,” says Patterson. “Instead, our goal is to raise awareness of what you really mean when you say things like ‘You don’t look your age’ or ‘You look great for your age.’ At this stage, we’re not measuring behavior of staff toward residents. We are measuring whether viewing these videos can help to make people more aware of their own ageist beliefs.”
To date, the ageism training program has been piloted at 8 sites in Virginia, including an adult day center, a life plan community, assisted living communities, and community-based organizations. Of the 70 participants who completed an anonymous survey about the training:
- 96% said they would apply what they learned from the video to their everyday life.
- 86% said they had a better understanding of ageism.
- 90% said the training would motivate them to change how they think or act.
THE EVALUATION
Researchers will work with LeadingAge state affiliates in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to recruit 45 LeadingAge members to participate in 3 levels of the evaluation:
- Staff at 15 sites will participate in the full training, featuring the video and follow-up discussions and reflections.
- Staff at 15 sites will receive a modified intervention that features written materials about ageism but does not involve a video screening or discussions.
- Staff at 15 comparison sites will not receive any training on ageism.
Participants at all 45 sites will complete written surveys immediately before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. The survey questions are designed to measure and gauge changes in participants’ attitudes and knowledge about aging, and their self-reported ageist behaviors, job satisfaction, intent to remain in the job, and mental well-being.
AFTER THE EVALUATION
Researchers are hoping that the evaluation will provide sufficient evidence to support using the video intervention to alter behaviors and attitudes about aging, and to improve job satisfaction and retention among workers. Once the training program’s efficacy has been established, steps can then be taken to:
- Measure the direct impact of ageism training on the health, well-being, and quality of care received by older adults in long-term care, as well as other settings serving older adults; and
- Develop and validate new measures that can help organizations identify the need for culture change as it relates to staff training about ageism.