Assistant Professor; Co-Director, Area of Concentration in Geriatrics and Palliative Care University of Pittsburgh Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, United States
Objective : Ageism is prejudice or discrimination against persons based on their age, frequently against older adults. Because ageism in health care exists across many levels, combating ageism requires implementing a strategy that involves appropriate training of health care practitioners, including pharmacists. A faculty-led seminar developed to raise awareness and educate pharmacy students about this important topic will be described.
Methods: A faculty-led seminar was approved as an official co-curricular activity for cultural sensitivity. This seminar was specifically requested by two pharmacy student organizations. Differing learning methods were utilized during the seminar including the Facts on Aging Quiz (Breytspraak, L. and Badura L., 2015), self-administered at the beginning of the seminar. Students also reviewed examples of ageism in health care and potential causes. Moreover, students identified and discussed strategies to eliminate ageism.
Results: The seminar was well attended (n=33, including 3 first-, 20 second-, and 10 third-year students). Students were actively engaged and provided numerous examples of ageism personally witnessed. All students provided a self-reflection on important concepts learned at the end of the seminar. Students indicated they were unaware of ageism issues prior to the seminar including the prevalence of ageism in health care, potential negative impacts on physical and mental health, inappropriate use of “elderspeak”, and self-ageism potentially influencing older adults to seek less health care and engagement in preventive health behaviors.
Conclusions: A faculty-led co-curricular seminar was developed to raise awareness and educate pharmacy students to recognize ageism as an important concern to address in health care. This seminar topic should be considered more widely in pharmacy school curriculums.
