Prevention of Older Adult Infantilization by Nursing Home Professionals: An Intervention Program

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Professional Education
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Older adult infantilization by healthcare professionals is a pervasive issue.
• Existing training often fails to address negative stereotypes and dehumanization effectively.
• Nursing home staff require targeted interventions to promote respectful care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a brief psychoeducational program's effectiveness in preventing older adult infantilization.
• To assess the program's impact on negative stereotypes and humanization among nursing home professionals.
• To compare intervention effects between an experimental group and a control group.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 154 nursing home staff participated in the study.
• Professionals were assessed for infantilization, humanization, and stereotypes before and after the intervention.
• Repeated measures ANOVA and one-way ANCOVAs were used to analyze changes.

Main Results:

• The experimental group showed significant decreases in infantilization and negative stereotypes.
• Post-intervention, the experimental group reported less infantilization and fewer negative stereotypes than the control group.
• No significant changes in humanization were observed between groups.

Conclusions:

• Brief psychoeducational programs can effectively reduce infantilization and negative stereotypes in healthcare professionals.
• Targeted training is crucial for fostering a culture of respect and improving care for older adults.
• Further research should explore methods to enhance humanization alongside reducing negative perceptions.