Effects of Aging Simulation Program on Nurses’ Attitudes and Willingness toward Elder Care

Purpose: Nursing professionals play an important role in elder care, and their
attitudes toward the elderly may affect the quality of the provided care and its
outcomes. The study accordingly aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an aging
simulation intervention program in improving nurses’ attitudes and willingness toward elder care.
Methods: Participants were recruited from the nurses from a medical center
(N=134). All the participants wore a “senior simulator” suit to perform daily activities in this program. Data were collected before and 3 months after the intervention. Logistic regression analysis was then conducted.
Results: The participants developed more positive attitudes toward the elderly
after the intervention. Nurses’ willingness toward elder care increased from 67.8% to 78.4% (P= .000). After adjusted for related factors of the sample characteristics, their attitudes toward the elderly did not significantly improved, but willingness toward elder care (OR=2.719) were observed to report a significant correlation after the intervention. Nurses’ willingness toward elder care appeared to be related to demographic variables before the intervention, the elder care frequency (regularly vs sometimes) (OR=0.115) showed a significant correlation after the intervention.
Conclusion: Nurses’ attitudes toward the elderly are not necessarily related to
demographic variables. The aging simulation intervention program increases the
willingness of nursing professionals toward elder care and should be incorporated in clinical nursing education for enhancing the overall quality of elderly care.