2024 Volume 2 Pages 10-16
Purpose: Opportunities for contact between nursing students and older adults are decreasing in Japan due to the declining birthrate and increasing number of nuclear families and single-person households. This often makes it difficult for nursing students to understand older adults with dementia. Aging is one of the factors contributing to dementia, and the number of older adults with dementia is expected to increase as the population ages. The present study aimed to evaluate learning outcomes using a virtual reality dementia experience and an older adult simulated experience for nursing students in gerontological nursing.
Methods: In 2020, we conducted an anonymous questionnaire survey in 78 second-year nursing students before and after these educational experiences. The levels of ageism were analyzed with descriptive statistics and a Mann-Whitney U test using the Japanese shortened version of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA).
Results: The “Overall” score and scores for sub-items “Discrimination” and “Avoidance” decreased from before to after the experiences, although without a significant difference. The FSA score for the participants was lower than that reported in previous studies of nursing students. The score for the sub-item “Antilocution” decreased significantly after the experiences, which indicates that older adults were perceived more positively and ageism decreased.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that education using virtual reality dementia and older adult-simulation experiences was effective in reducing age discrimination in nursing students. A longitudinal survey to evaluate ageism among nursing students and factors influencing this ageism is required to expand on this finding.
