The attitudes of social work students toward the elderly and their empathy levels

The study aimed to investigate the attitudes and empathy levels of social work students toward the elderly according to some variables and to reveal the relationship between attitudes and empathy. The research population consisted of 899 students. 480 students were included in the sample. The Personal Information Form, the Kogan's Attitude toward Old People Scale, and the Empathy Quotient Scale were used to collect data. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research data were collected by administering the data collection tools face-to-face and using a web-based survey system. The results showed that among the social work students, women students, those who lived in the same house with an elderly person, and those who visited the nursing home had significantly higher positive attitudes toward the elderly. The first and third year students were found to have statistically more positive attitudes toward the elderly than the second and fourth year students. Moreover, the students who communicated with older individuals 1-2 times a week were found to have more positive attitudes toward the elderly than those who never communicated with the elderly. The students who had live in the same house with an elderly person and those who had visited the nursing home were found to have significantly higher empathy levels. The empathy levels of those who visited elderly individuals 1-2 times a week were found to be significantly higher than those who visited them once a month. In addition, a weak, positive, and significant relationship was revealed between the attitudes of social work students toward the elderly and their empathy levels.