A Comparative Study on the Social Worker's Knowledge about Facts on Aging and Attitude toward the Elderly between Korea and Japan

한.일 사회복지사의 노화사실 인지정도와 노인에 대한 태도 비교연구

The purpose of this study is to measure the social worker's knowledge about facts on aging and attitude toward the elderly between Korea and Japan. and to find out the variables that may influence their attitude. Four hundred and sixty two social workers working in nursing homes were given the questionnaire containing the Kyung San Facts on Aging Quiz to measure the level of knowledge about aging and Yoon (1988)'s scale to find the direction of attitude toward the elderly. The results of this study are analyzed as follows: (1) The Korean social worker's level of knowledge about aging was 63.0%, which was lower than Japanese social worker's level (67.6%). (2) Using 5 points scale. mean of the Korean social worker's attitude toward the elderly was 2.2 (44.8%), which was significantly different from the Japanese social worker's attitude 3.2 (63.4%). (3) Using multiple regression analysis, the social worker's level of knowledge about aging was the most significant predictor to explain the social worker's attitude toward the elderly. The other variables that are also statistically significant predictors of the social workers' attitude were country, personal experience with the elderly. and voluntary experience for the elderly. Especially the significant predictors to explain the Korean social workers' attitude were their levels of knowledge about aging. age, and classification of social worker license. On the other hand. the significant predictors to explain the Japanese social workers' attitude were their levels of knowledge about aging and periods of activity, Based on the research results, implications for practice and education methods for making social workers' attitude toward the elderly more positive are also suggested.