Reflections on service learning with the aged.

Abstract

The following is a discussion of the possible benefits of service learning as an antidote to ageism. It presents the themes found in a qualitative analysis of 31 papers of college students working within a retirement-home environment. The theme analysis indicates increased awareness of ageism and a shift towards a more positive attitude towards the elderly.

Introduction

   If you have not experienced an elderly person's whole-hearted smile,
   complete with a wide grin and crooked teeth, with the wrinkled skin
   and twinkles in each eye, I seriously suggest you develop such a
   friendship and trust that benefits your own life as well as theirs.
   (study participant)

The above quote may sum up best the experiences of this group of college students volunteering with the elderly. This paper explores whether service learning, the benefits of which are well established in the literature, can also help to reduce ageism.

Ageism is a sad and persistent social phenomenon well documented in the literature (Ory, Kinney Hoffman, Hawkins, Sanner, & Mockenhaupt, 2003; Palmore, 2004). Cuddy, Norton, and Fiske (2005) have termed this phenomenon pan-cultural ageism--the disconcerting finding that, in a wide variety of cultures, old people are perceived as sweet but feeble. In a study on age preference, Kalavar (2001) found that among 13 types of service providers, the preferred age group to work with was age 40 or below. Other studies have found ageism among college-age individuals (Kavalar, 2001; Kite, 1996; McConatha, Schnell, Volkwein, Riley, & Leach, 2003). According to McConatha et al., American college students, on average, consider men who are age 53 to be old; women are considered old at age 48.

Of great concern, especially in light of our population's increasing age, is the ageism so prevalent among those who work with older people in professions such as health care (Bernard, 1998; Grant, 1996; Lookinland & Anson, 1995; Wells, Foreman, Gething, & Petralia, 2004), social work (Cheung, Chan, & Lee, 1999; Quinn, 1999), and occupational therapy (Horowitz, Savino, & Krauss, 1999). Ageist practices reduce the quality of care older people receive and their sense of self-efficacy. The threat of being stereotyped against undermines older people's performance confidence and may lead to automatic stereotype activation-behavior (Major & O'Brien, 2005; Smith, 2004).

Service-Learning Assignments

The university sophomores I teach come from a variety of disciplines including nursing, psychology, and social work. I am interested in what can be done to prevent these students from entering the workforce with ageist attitudes. Can we decrease ageism in our college-age population through education? There is some evidence to suggest that education that addresses ageist attitudes improves student attitudes (Gleberzon, 2002). However, Stuart-Hamilton and Mahoney (2003) argue that a primarily fact-based approach may make students more aware of what attitudes are "politically correct," but leave their actual feelings toward older persons unchanged. Quinn (1999) proposes a more experientially focused approach.

This brings us back to the topic of service learning. Researchers claim that students in community service may experience, under the right circumstances, a developmental shift in cognitive, psychosocial, moral and even spiritual perspective (Brandenberger, 1998; Eyler & Dwight, 1999). For this reason, I offer a service learning option as one of the assignments in my Lifespan Development course. The students choose from a variety of placements and commit to a minimum of 10 hours of service. Some choose to work with older people; others "end up" doing so, as one student put it, due to scheduling difficulties. At the end of the service opportunity, students write a paper making connections between the course material and the reality of the service site.

Over the last several semesters, students gave me permission to use their papers for research. The papers of the 31 students who worked with senior citizens provide the basis for this report. I analyzed only the final section, which required their personal insights, although I did include comments from other sections of the papers, as they related to the students' insights about the elderly.

Student Reflections and Theme Analysis

Do the students' voices indicate a change in attitude? To answer this question, I conducted a theme analysis, which is related to the theoretical framework of a phenomenological analysis (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003; Smith & Osborn, 2003; Van Manen, 1997). The initial notes were progressively refined to result in the main themes. In the first stage of the analysis, each paragraph or sentence was assigned a preliminary meaning unit. The responses were then gradually clustered into major themes of meanings, through what Smith and Osborn term a "sustained engagement with the text and a process of interpretation" (p. 64). This led to a more overarching perspective and eventually to the essential themes, which are presented here in the students' voices.

Theme 1: We encountered ageism in ourselves Students came to recognize their ageist thought and to acknowledge their lack of understanding for the aged:

I too sometimes fall prey to the discriminations against elderly ... I have gained a greater understanding of why I fall [in]to this and also how to avoid it.

I thought of them as being wrinkly, cranky, deaf and smelly. These words are actually used very rarely, if at all, now in how I describe my volunteer work.

I recall my first stereotypical thoughts of the elderly. I assumed that most of them were unable to walk, eat, [or] think for themselves.

When I first chose to volunteer at Common Sense I was very hesitant that I would not have enough patience for the elderly. I thought that this would be a boring job and that most of the seniors would be sleeping, barely able to feed themselves, crabby, and slow.

A lot of younger people are very disrespectful towards elders whether directly or indirectly without thinking that they may be in that exact spot many years from now.

Sadly, I haven't had many encounters with the elderly, therefore I developed untrue prejudices and predictions about them.

Theme 2: At first we felt awkward The following responses also denote ageism, in that many of the students felt initially uncomfortable to approach the elderly:

It was difficult at first to interact with some of the residents. I wanted nothing more than to walk out the door and pretend that I had never come.

At first, I didn't want to participate in this service project because I find myself to be uncomfortable around older adults. Being put in a situation where I was forced to not only interact with older adults, but also adults with disabilities really opened my eyes to a whole new world of people.

The first evening I spent at the nursing home started out as a scary journey and an uncomfortable process. By my next couple of visits I found myself enjoying the interaction with the residents.

Once I got to know the people, it became less awkward and I enjoyed going. Now I look forward to seeing those friendly laces.

Before I went to the nursing home I couldn't stand being around old people and I knew I never wanted to work with them as a nurse. At the time they just seemed boring and bitter. I had almost changed my mind about going into nursing just because of the fact that I didn't want to work with them. When I was looking for a place to go for my service project everything I was interested in fell through but I noticed that the nursing home was close and they needed volunteers so I decided to give them a call. The first day I went in for a tour I got really uncomfortable with everyone coming up to me just to talk, at that point I knew I was only going to be there for my required hours then stop going. But to my surprise that outlook quickly changed.

Theme 3: We saw how much the elderly have to give This theme provides an explanation for the students' changed outlook. They consistently indicated that they came to admire the wisdom and experience of the aged:

The elderly are so rich with experience, culture, opinions, attitudes, [and] insight. They are able to present the world to me in a completely different light than I have ever been able to see it.

They have a vast wellspring of knowledge and experience that for the most part goes untapped.

When doing a crossword puzzle, the residents knew many of the answers (most of which I had never heard). I seemed to discover this wisdom in many of the elderly at Sunset Place.

The residents also often, because of the age factor, look at issues not as black and white as younger people do, but instead as gray. There may be more than one way to solve a problem and the resident usually comes up with the options.

Themes 1 through 3 demonstrate that when students are asked to make personal connections to their service-learning experience, they typically gain insight into their own thinking and are able to identify, in retrospect, their stereotypes. Other researchers have found that this perspective transformation (Eyler & Dwight, 1999) can lead to a reduction in anxiety as the students adjust to the new environment (Waterman & National Youth Leadership Council, 1997). Of the participants in Blieszner & Artale's (2001) study, 49 percent reported overcoming misperceptions about aging, and 21 percent indicated appreciation of the elders. Brown and Roodin (2001) found that students' concerns about working with the elderly, such as negative past experiences and fear of not finding any commonality, can be overcome, and can lead to a new understanding and respect for the aged.

Theme 4: We gained insights for life Students expressed that the experience taught them something worthwhile. They mentioned overcoming personal limitations, gaining a sense of competence, finding joy in helping, paying attention to a healthy lifestyle, having a broadened worldview, and having developed a sense of agency:

Going into the situation, I was unconvinced that I would learn anything worthwhile. Fortunately, I was wrong. I learned so many things about myself.

I often found myself receiving help and advice more than I was offering it.

This experience allowed me to push past my fears and anxieties of these environments.

I was very shy, so it helped me to be more communicative with others.

It had a huge impact on me personally. I was able to face a situation that I may have been very apprehensive about.

It made me realize that I am capable of helping people.

Despite all the pain that she has endured, she still always has a smile on her face. I learned so much from that lady about being joyful in whatever our circumstances and in trusting God.

Their happiness and laughter helped ease my own stress. I could hardly remember the last time I smiled until I went to the nursing home. I expected to serve and learn more about the elderly group, but I received important insight on how to add laughter into my day.

I also have realized the importance of taking good care of myself now because that will have an effect on who I become.

They showed positive attitudes through their smiles and they opened their memories and wisdom to me. These alone made the experience worth more than a letter grade for me. It almost seemed like a horrible trick to play on a "busy college student." Now I need to make time to go back to EagleCrest. This is not a project that I feel can end after ten hours; the experience moved my heart and I will never be the same person.

This has changed the way I view older adults and also the way that I act towards them.

But I hope to use this experience to help other young adults to develop a more positive view on the elderly age group.

Theme 4 reflects the concept of personal development, a topic also prominently featured in literature about service learning with the aged (Blieszner & Artale, 2001; Brown & Roodin, 2001; Cavanaugh, 2001). Through service, students discover their strengths and vocational interests, their place in the broader environment, and an interest in educating others. Cavanaugh states that personal learning and community service are, in fact, the most likely outcome of service learning.

Conclusion

Do the students' reflections on their service suggest a reduction in ageism? The first three themes make a direct reference to self-reported, positive changes, and Theme 4 reveals personal growth as a result of the students' encounters with the aged. As the students themselves verbalized, the experience brought them to a new level of awareness of the reality and rewards of serving the elderly. Their new insights may be overly positive; however, because the students are now less reluctant to interact with the elderly, they will be able to refine their perspectives further. The students' service also gave them access to a variety of nursing-home environments. Some students developed concerns about the administration and quality of care for the elderly, concerns that may lead to civic engagement in the future.

Reading through the reflections has strengthened my resolve to encourage service-learning opportunities. It reminded me of how awkward it might be for some students to go into a very different environment. Educators can enhance their students' service-learning experience by giving more time in the classroom to help students anticipate the experience, and can validate their learning by asking for their insights in class. Viewing my students as future professionals, I am gripped with a sense of urgency to raise their awareness of needs of the elderly, as their encounters with this population will certainly increase in the future.

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Linde J. Getahun, Bethel University, Saint Paul, MN

Getahun, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.