Abstract

GEYER, Stephan  and  JORDAAN, Joyce. Social service professionals'knowledge of and attitudes towards older persons: Implications for continuing professional development. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2023, vol.63, n.2, pp.383-401. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2023/v63n2a12.

Worldwide the population of older persons is growing. Relatedly, there is an increasing demand for suitable medical care, social security (e.g. government grants), social services and care. In South Africa, the focus of this study, social services to older persons are mainly provided by two social service professional groups, namely social workers and social auxiliary workers. This paper argues that practitioners in the social service professions must have appropriate knowledge and a fitting attitude towards older persons to provide effective gerontological services. This argument is aligned with an international commitment by signatories to the UN Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030 to change the way people think, feel and act towards age and ageing in order to ensure the delivery of integrated person-centred gerontological services. In South Africa, older persons are considered a vulnerable group on which social services must focus (cf. Framework for Social Welfare Services, 2013). There is also specific legislation in this regard, namely the Older Persons Act 13 of 2006, as amended. After consultation of various international and national databases, it was confirmed that, in contrast to various surveys among students in the helping professions, there is still a lack of studies that explore and describe professionals' knowledge of and attitude towards older persons. According to the available literature, there is only one study within the South African context that dealt with the attitude of medical practitioners towards older persons (Ntusi & Ferreira, 2004). With this knowledge gap in mind, the research question that this study seeks to answer is as follows: "What are professionals in social service professions' knowledge of and attitude towards older persons?" This study was undertaken within the ambit of the modernisation theory. A cross-sectional survey was implemented with social service professionals in the employ of a private South African welfare organisation with a footprint over five of the nine provinces. The total population of 140 professionals was invited to complete a web-based survey. Sixty-three respondents (N=63) responded to the invitation and answered the questionnaire in full via Qualtrics^XM, a web-based programme. Section 1 comprised a holistic profile of the respondents. In Section 2, the knowledge of respondents pertaining to older persons and ageing was determined by means of Palmore's First Facts on Aging Quiz in multiple-choice format. Incorrect answers determine positive or negative bias towards ageing. Section 3 determined the respondents'attitudes towards older persons, using Fraboni's Scale of Ageism. The scale measures overall attitude/ageism, and three sub-scales, namely antilocution, avoidance and discrimination. More specifically, this study determined the impact of nine factors (i.e. age, area of childhood residence, growing up with an older person, qualification, completed course in gerontology, working exclusively with older persons, considering working with older persons, province of employment, and task description) on the knowledge and attitudes of respondents by calculating either the independent T-test or the one-way ANOVA. Both scales were found to be valid and reliable within the South African context. After written permission from the management of the welfare organisation, the research ethics committee of the university provided ethical approval for the study. Based on the profile of the respondents, this study mainly offers a glimpse of female persons in their middle years, with an average of 15 years of experience as social workers and practising in family-centred services. The results show that the respondents have poor overall knowledge of ageing with a mean of 9.4 out of 25 (SD=2.6). In answering the quiz, incorrect answers tended toward negative bias towards older persons. Overall the respondents hold positive attitudes toward older persons with a mean of 80.6 out of 145 (SD=11.8) for ageism. Furthermore, the sub-scales antilocution (x=25.2) and avoidance (x=24.9) scored around the midpoint, while discrimination scored high (x=30.4). Three factors were identified as having a statistically significant impact on the respondents' overall knowledge of ageing: "Age group" (p=0.02), "Qualification" (p=0.03) and "Taskdescription" (p=0.03). Furthermore, "Growing up with an older person in the household" had a statistically significant impact on the subscale "positive bias" (p=0.02). In addition, "Currently working exclusively with older persons" showed a statistically significant impact on both the overall attitude/ageism (p=0.04) and antilocution (p=0.04) measured among the respondents. With reference to the factors that showed a statistically significant impact (p<0.05) on respondents' knowledge of ageing and attitudes towards older persons, recommendations for continuing professional development (CPD) are delineated. As per the policy of the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP, 2021), registered social workers must achieve at least 20 CPD points each year (or 40 spread over two years) and registered social auxiliary workers 10 points (20 over two years). The policy of the SACSSP makes provision for a variety of group and individual activities whose award of points varies between two and twenty. All professionals also carry out their tasks under a supervisor. Both CPD and supervision offer a familiar context within which social services to older persons can be dealt with. The field of service of professionals should determine the extent to which the focus on older persons should be. In connection with the aforementioned policy and supervision, some recommendations are offered to improve professionals'knowledge of and attitude towards older persons. For example, expert lectures focusing on different aspects of ageing and the completion of professional online development courses. Attitudes could be addressed during individual supervision and with creative activities such as role plays.

Keywords : social service professions; social workers; social auxiliary workers; older persons; continuing professional development; knowledge of older persons; attitudes towards older persons; ageism; South Africa; gerontology.

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