White coats meet grey power: Students and seniors respond to an 'Intergenerational Gala'

Research suggests that non-clinical interactions with the elderly may enhance medical students' traditionally poor attitudes towards this patient group. Although extensive literature has reported on students' attitudes, seniors' perspectives of their relations with younger health care professionals (HCPs) are generally unknown. Dr. Charise's study looked at students' and seniors' perceptions of aging and its influence on medical practice before and after a recreational, intergenerational event.

In March 2006, The Schulich Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario (UWO) held its second annual "Intergenerational Gala." Approximately 150 seniors and students were invited to complete a brief pre- and post-event questionnaire about attitudes towards aging, care of the elderly, and HCP training. To avoid lowered response rates due to physical or sensory impairments, seniors' data was collected approximately one week before the event at their place of residence, using a semi-structured, standardized interview format.

Identifying what distinguishes medical students' and seniors' perceptions of aging may help make future physicians more sensitive to the special needs and expectations of elderly patients through education and clinical practice. By making non-clinical interactions easier, undergraduate medical education initiatives could capitalize on both seniors' "grey power" and students' inclination to participate in intergenerational events in order to improve their attitudes and skills required to care for older patients in medical practice.

As a Clinical Research Associate in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, this research experience further developed Dr. Charise's interdisciplinary research interests in aging, specifically as this topic combines aspects of both medical and humanistic studies.

In addition to her research position, Andrea Charise is a second-year doctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Toronto and a CIHR Doctoral Fellow in the Health Care Technologies Place collaborative program. She is combining her interests in aging and the intersection of literary and medical discourses in her doctoral dissertation, which investigates shifting conceptions of old age in 19^th-century British literature.