Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine whether senior simulation would bring any positive change to the attitude of dental hygiene students toward the elderly. The experimental group consisted of 58 dental hygiene students at a college. The experimental procedure was to do activities for 40 minutes wearing aging simulation suit. Self administered questionnaires were used to ask the attitude toward the elderly after senior simulation. The data were analyzed with SPSS program. General and aging related characteristics of subjects were analyzed through descriptive statistics. To testify the differences of the attitude after senior simulation, paired t-test was used. An experiment was conducted from May 27 to June 14, 2012, and the findings of the study were as follows: 1. There wasn't any perfect positive change in the overall attitude of the students toward elderly people after senior simulation, but their attitude got a little more positive whereas they took a neutral attitude in the past; 2. The students who had ever lived with elderly people under the same roof and who had ever received education related to the elderly underwent a more positive change in their attitude toward the elderly; 3. To what extent senior simulation was helpful for the understanding of the elderly was checked, and the majority replied that it was very useful or useful for the understanding of their physical aspects. The findings of the study confirmed that senior simulation didn't change the overall attitude of the students toward the elderly in a positive way yet brought about some positive changes in part. Therefore senior simulation is expected to be one of significant educational programs that could encourage students to have a better physical understanding of the elderly, to take a more positive attitude to them and to provide them with quality dental service.
본 연구는 치위생학 전공 대학생을 대상으로 노인유사체험이 노인에 대한 태도를 긍정적으로 변화시킬 수 있는지 여부를 확인하고자 2012년 5월 27일부터 6월 14일까지 1개 대학교에 재학 중인 치위생학과 학생 58명을 대상으로 실험을 실시하여 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 1. 노인유사체험 후 노인에 대한 전반적인 태도는 긍정적인 방향으로 완전히 전환되지는 않았으나 중립적인 태도에서 좀 더 긍정적인 태도로 변화하였다. 2. 노인과 동거경험이 있거나 노인관련 교육을 받은 경험이 있는 경우 노인유사체험 후 노인에 대해 긍정적인 태도변화를 보였다. 3. 노인유사체험이 노화를 이해하는데 도움이 된 정도를 확인한 결과, 노화의 신체적 측면에 대해 대다수가 매우 도움이 되었거나 도움이 된다고 응답하였다. 이러한 결과를 통해 노인유사체험이 노인에 대한 전반적인 태도를 긍정적으로 변화시키지는 못하였지만 부분적인 항목에서 긍정적인 변화를 이끌어 냄을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 노인유사체험은 노화에 대한 신체적인 이해도를 높여 노인에 대한 태도를 보다 긍정적으로 형성하고, 더 나아가 노인에 대한 양질의 구강진료서비스를 제공할 수 있도록 유도하는 의미있는 교육프로그램이 될 것이라 생각된다.