Shaping Student Nurses' Attitudes Towards Older People Through Learning and Experience (Report‪)‬

Introduction There is consistent concern expressed in health literature about health professionals' attitudes towards older people (Herdman, 2002). Palmore (1999) argued that health professionals share the same ageist attitudes that permeate the overall society, compounded by a disease-oriented education and experiences focused on the extreme illness and dying end of the spectrum of ageing. The concept of ageism was developed by Butler in 1968 to refer to processes of stereotyping and discrimination based on age (Butler, 1968). Negative stereotyping on the basis of age is communicated through a variety of social means including the media, language and organisational practices (Wilson & Kan, 2006). Despite the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993 covering age discrimination in a range of areas such as employment, access to services and housing, discriminatory practices exist in New Zealand as noted in a study on employment recruitment and selection practices where age was a barrier to employment for older workers in low and medium demand positions, despite legislative sanction (Wilson & Kan). Health professionals are influenced consciously and unconsciously by prevailing societal values. Ageist attitudes can be acted out in career choices that avoid health settings for older people and in relationships with older patients that curtail the potential for improved health and well-being.