Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v25i4.4828
The Significance of Fieldwork with Older Persons Placed in Institutions from the Perspective of Social Work Students
Ana Štambuk
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Department of Social Work
Ivana Vertuš
; Home for the Aged Villa Brezovica
Lea Skokandić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0888-3621
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Department of Social Work
Abstract
Many national and international documents emphasise the need to prepare students to care for older persons. Social work students’ knowledge about the ageing process, methods of working with older persons, as well as field practice, have an impact on their attitudes towards older persons as future social work clients. Students’ perception of ageing and older persons has significant consequences for the quality of interventions. Therefore, our aim was to examine students’ opinions on their experience of fieldwork with older persons in order to gain insight into the meaning it has for them. The research results show that fieldwork is important for the development of a positive attitude towards older persons as it increases gerontological knowledge among students, as well as their interest in future gerontological work. The presented results can be an incentive for further quantitative and qualitative research, which should aim at improving and developing fieldwork with older people as part of a basic education for future work in gerontology.
Keywords
fieldwork; gerontological education; older persons; social work students
Hrčak ID:
313645
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2023.
Visits: 145 *