Ageism webinars: A needs-based continuing education training for the national aging network.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Ageism presents a significant barrier in healthcare and nutrition.
• The National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) developed Ageism Webinars (AWs) to address this challenge.
• Equitable evaluation is crucial to ensure training benefits all demographic groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of NRCNA's Ageism Webinars (AWs) in increasing participant familiarity and knowledge.
• To assess the webinars' impact on behavioral intent to implement recommended actions.
• To examine if webinar outcomes were equitable across different races, ages, and education levels.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective online survey was administered to 193 participants post-webinar.
• Likert scale questions assessed perceived familiarity and knowledge gain.
• Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) items measured behavioral intention.

Main Results:

• Overall increases in perceived familiarity and knowledge were significant (p < 0.001).
• However, gains were significantly smaller for participants from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups (p < 0.05).
• High intention to act and high webinar satisfaction (98.7%) were reported.

Conclusions:

• Ageism Webinars are an effective training modality for combating ageism.
• Differential outcomes highlight the need to refine webinars and evaluation methods for greater equity.
• Future training should consider tailored approaches to better serve diverse populations.