The effect of extended contact with community‐dwelling older adults on the ageist and helping attitudes of home care students: A single‐blind randomised controlled trial

Background Ageist and helping attitudes among undergraduate homecare students are a concern for educators, healthcare professionals and home care workers due to their potential to increase the marginalisation of older people and negatively impact quality of care. Objectives The current study evaluated the effect of extended contact with community‐dwelling older adults on the ageist and helping attitudes of home care students. Methods Fifty‐five students attending a public university in Turkey were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 27) or control group (n = 28). The intervention group received positive theoretical education and had extended contact with community‐dwelling older adults, while the control group only received positive theoretical education. Before and after the intervention, the students’ ageist attitudes were evaluated with Kogan's Attitudes towards Old People scale (KAOP) and helping attitudes were evaluated with the Helping Attitude Scale (HAS). Results There were statistically significant differences between pre‐ and post‐test mean KAOP total, positive ageism and negative ageism subscale scores in the intervention group (p