Brief Aging Education Affects Continuing Education Preferences and Behaviors of Mental Health Providers

This study examined the impact of receiving foundational information about aging on continuing education (CE) interests, preferences, and behaviors of mental health providers.

Participants were practicing licensed professional counselors (N = 120) recruited from a random sampling of a state registry. The study employed a 3-group randomized controlled design with participants assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: an aging-specific reading, an opioid use disorder-specific reading, and a CE requirement-specific reading. As outcomes, participants rated their interest in aging-specific CE and selected to receive an aging-specific CE or Motivational Interviewing-specific CE program.

Perceived competence for working with older adults, assessed before the experimental manipulation, predicted choice and degree of interest in the aging-specific CE across conditions. Participants in the Aging-Reading condition rated a higher interest in aging-specific CE and were marginally more likely to select the aging-specific CE option than those in the other 2 conditions. Those in the Aging-Reading condition were also more likely to register for and complete an actual CE program focused on any topic.

Foundational knowledge about aging may increase practitioners' interest and behaviors toward gaining competency for working with older adults, supporting the Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences model (Levy, S. R. (2018). Toward reducing ageism: PEACE (positive education about aging and contact experiences) model. Gerontologist, 58(2), 226-232. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw116) of reducing ageism.