2017 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 23-32
Elderly simulations have been reported to promote empathy for the elderly by developing an understanding of their physical changes, and to be useful for experience-based learning of support for the elderly. In the Department of Geriatric Dentistry, Osaka Dental University, an elderly simulation program has been provided since FY 2001 for students who have completed basic dental education programs to acquire preclinical experience prior to training in hospitals. This study analyzed their reports involving free descriptions that were submitted after the program to clarify its effects.
A total of 253 reports, involving free descriptions and submitted by fourth-year students of the Department of Dentistry, Osaka Dental University（FY2013：63 males and 56 females, total 119；and FY2014：74 males and 60 females, total 134）after completing the elderly simulation program, were analyzed. Quantitative text analysis was performed using a combined approach and the text mining software KH Coder 2.00e.
On morphological analysis, the total number of words was 37,522, with 1,947 of them being different. Through cluster and correspondence analyses, three coding rules were created. When aggregating the reports using these rules, codes related to“understanding of physical and psychological aspects”accounted for 71.15％, followed by“empathic understanding”（44.66％）and“changes in self-awareness”（34.78％）, supporting the usefulness of the elderly simulation program to enhance studentsʼ understanding of the elderly.
