The impact of a hospital-wide experiential learning educational program on staff's knowledge and misconceptions about aging

The increased use of health care services by older adults has prompted an interest in preparing health care workers to better deal with the special needs of older adults. Aging education is one method of sensitizing health care personnel to these special needs, but the effectiveness of such educational programs needs to be established. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the knowledge and attitudes of hospital personnel of their participation in an experiential learning educational program concerning older adults. Each of nine groups of hospital employees attended a 2-hour workshop. Each group completed a pretest and posttest using Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz. A significant increase in scores was found in all groups after the workshop experience, and some groups had a greater increase in scores than others.