ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AGED AND IDENTIFIED EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCES OF THERAPEUTIC RECREATION STUDENTS

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Abstract
Past research has demonstrated that the proportion of health care personnel willing to engage in geriatric practice is low. A common explanation for this occurrence suggests that the documented negative attitudes held by many health care providers toward the aged is accompanied by such discriminatory behavior as avoidance. The primary intent of this study was to explore both the attitudes of future therapeutic recreation (TR) professionals toward older adults and their stated preferences in terms of working with geriatric populations. Participants in this study were 95 TR majors from three universities. Two instruments, Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People Scale and the Therapeutic Recreation Work Preference Survey, were used to collect the data for this study. Statistical analysis revealed that whereas the subjects’ attitudes toward the aged were generally positive, the subjects expressed a clear preference to work with younger rather than with older clients. Possible explanations for this finding are presented, and suggestions for ameliorating this problem are discussed.

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