Ageism and Self-Reported Attitudes Toward Older Adults Following a Multidisciplinary Educational Program Among Health...

Preparing future dental professionals to care for an ageing population requires more than knowledge acquisition. While educational interventions may improve attitudes toward older adults, underlying forms of ageism may persist and influence clinical practice.

To assess self-reported attitudes and ageism among healthcare students, including dental students, following participation in a multidisciplinary training program focused on older adult care, and to explore the implications for geriatric dentistry education.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 259 students (n = 93 students in Dentistry, 52 in Pharmacy, 87 in Nursing Sciences, and 27 in Sports and Physical Activity Sciences) at Université Paris Cité (2024-2025). The program combined theoretical courses, an online serious game, and role-play simulations. Self-reported attitudes toward older adults were assessed using the French version of the UCLA Geriatrics Attitudes Scale (UCLA-GAS-F), and ageism was measured using the Ambivalent Ageism Scale for Health Care (AAS_hc-F). Comparisons were performed using an ANOVA.

The mean UCLA-GAS-F score was 47.6 ± 5.5, with 85.0% of students demonstrating positive attitudes toward older adults (scores higher than 42). The mean AAS_hc-F score was 52.8 ± 15.7. Notably, 37.5% and 19.7% of students exhibited high levels of benevolent and hostile ageism, respectively. No significant differences were observed according to discipline or exposure to the serious game.

Despite generally positive attitudes toward older adults, substantial levels of benevolent ageism and hostile ageism persisted among health students. These findings suggest that simulation-based geriatric education alone may be insufficient to address implicit biases.