title: Increasing knowledge about the older population: the role of geriatric curriculum in optometry.
abstract: Education in the area of geriatrics/gerontology alleviates misconceptions about the elderly and lessens ageism. Ageism, negative feelings toward the elderly, represents a substantial obstacle to the delivery of quality health care to older adults. As future primary health care professionals, optometry students will encounter a large segment of the older population. This study looks at the effect that a didactic course and a clinical rotation in geriatrics have on the knowledge and attitude of optometry students toward older adults. Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz: Part 1 was administered to two classes of optometry students. One class experienced a geriatric course and clinic concurrently; the other class experienced the geriatric clinic before the course. Scores increased significantly post-test for both classes. Exposure to geriatric patients before didactic instruction did not improve pretest scores; however, the number of patient exposures was significant at post-test. Antiage bias scores also improved with intervention of a didactic course and clinical rotation in geriatrics. The results of this study indicate that ageism in optometrists may be ameliorated by providing formal instruction in geriatrics in the optometric curriculum.
authors.affiliation: College of Optometry, University of Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Rumsey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009907:Optometry / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires