The influence of socio-demographic characteristics of healthcare workers on their attitudes towards older people in Nairobi, western and Rift Valley provinces of Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of socio-demographic characteristics of health-care workers on their attitudes towards older people and how it affects their behaviour. The study was based on the theoretical models of Ajzen and Fishbein‟s Theory of Reasoned Action (1980) and Townsend‟s Structured Dependency Theory (1981). The study hypothesized based on the assumption that monitoring healthcare workers‟ attitudes towards older people can serve as a powerful indicator of their behaviour to older people. The ex post facto research design was used and the sample was health-care workers in three provinces of the eight provinces of Kenya. A sample of 295 (178 males, 117 females) respondents were assessed on their socio-demographic characteristics and their attitudes toward older people. The sampling methods used were random sampling without replacement in selecting 20 institutions in each province that deal with older people. Respondents were selected using both stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. The 60-item Attitudes Towards Older People Scale (ATOPS) was the main instrument for data collection. The research instrument was pilot-tested to ascertain its reliability yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.76. Research experts reviewed the instrument to establish its validity. Data was analysed using descriptive (frequencies, means, standard deviations and percentages) and inferential statistics (Independent sample t-tests, Chi-square, One-way ANOVA, Coefficient of Contingency and Pearson Product Moment Correlation at 0.05 levels of significance. Results indicated that there were no significant influences of gender, professional occupation, marital status and religious beliefs of healthcare workers on their attitudes towards older people t (295) =1.53, p>0.05. Age, level of education and work experience had a significant impact on the attitudes of healthcare workers towards older people. The results highlighted the importance and urgency of more concerted research to inform the public and organizational policies to better promote and manage care of older people in an ageing society like Kenya. Geriatric curriculum should be developed to correct misunderstandings and improve the attitudes of health care workers toward older people. Further, there is need to explore psychological constructs of ageism across cultures.