THE EFFECT OF AGING AWARENESS TRAINING ON KNOWLEDGE OF, AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS, OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

Two hundred British participants in an age awareness workshop were tested on the Palmore Aging Quiz (PAQ) and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) immediately prior to the workshop and one month after the event. There was a significant improvement in PAQ scores, reflecting retained knowledge acquired at the workshop. Scores on the overall FSA were unaltered, though there was a significant lowering in scores on the Antilocution section of the test. This indicates that increased awareness of aging issues may alter factual knowledge and increase awareness of "politically correct" language, but attitudes toward older people and aging remain fundamentally unchanged. This questions whether the PAQ is a valid choice of tool for measuring changes in attitudes to ageing, since PAQ performance can improve independent of measures of attitudinal change. The study also provides useful recent British means for the PAQ and FSA tests.