Long-term effects of an aging suit experience on nursing college students

This study investigated the long-term effects of an aging suit experience on the attitudes and behaviors of nursing college students toward the elderly. The aging suit experience was an activity in which participants indirectly experienced aging by performing various activities while wearing a specially designed experience suit, and 65 nursing department sophomores were selected in this study; they responded to structured questionnaires regarding their attitude and behavior toward the elderly at five time points-before the program, immediately after the program, after sharing about the experience with others, one month following the program's completion, and three months following the program's conclusion. Their attitude toward the elderly changed negatively immediately after the experience, followed by a more positive attitude after sharing about the experience with others that was maintained afterward. Subjects' behavior toward the elderly also improved after the experience and was maintained at three months after the program's conclusion. The students' attitudes and behaviors toward the elderly were positively correlated. The demonstrated long-term effects of the aging suit experience in improving nursing students' attitudes and behavior toward the elderly in this study suggest that the experience can be applied to geriatric nursing education.