Self-esteem and caregivers' attitudes toward elderly persons

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Medical Education
• Psychology

Background:

• Positive attitudes towards geriatric patients are crucial in healthcare.
• Understanding factors influencing medical students' perceptions of elderly care is essential for training.
• Previous research has explored attitudes but lacked specific scales for medical students' geriatric care self-esteem.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a scale measuring medical students' self-esteem in caring for geriatric patients.
• To identify personal and professional traits associated with positive therapeutic attitudes towards the elderly.
• To explore the relationship between self-esteem in geriatric care and residency choices.

Main Methods:

• A modified Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale was administered to 141 medical students.
• The scale included a specific phrase related to geriatric care.
• Statistical analysis was used to correlate scale scores with personal/professional traits and residency preferences.

Main Results:

• A scale was developed to identify medical students with positive responses to geriatric patients.
• High social desirability and self-monitoring, along with low thanatophobia and depression, predicted positive therapeutic attitudes.
• Senior students with the highest self-esteem in geriatric care preferred family medicine for residency.

Conclusions:

• Self-esteem in geriatric care is measurable and linked to specific psychological traits.
• Interventions aimed at improving medical students' attitudes towards the elderly may need to address social desirability, self-monitoring, thanatophobia, and depression.
• Fostering positive self-esteem in geriatric care could influence specialty choices, potentially increasing interest in fields like family medicine.