Centre for Policy on Ageing



Aging in introductory and life cycle nutrition textbooks
Author(s)	Nancy S Wellman, Nancy L Kondracki, Paulette Johnson
Journal title	Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, vol 24, no 3, 2004
Pages	pp 67-86
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Health [elderly] ; Ageing process ; Health services ; Attitudes to the old of general public ; Literature reviews.
Annotation	The ageing content in 11 undergraduate nutrition textbooks (8 introductory, 3 life cycles) was evaluated using content analysis. It was found that the 259 relevant pages largely focused on geriatrics, e.g. chronic diseases. Gerontological aspects were underemphasised. Overall, topic omissions included discussion of ageism, death, dying and dignity; and end-of-life decisions related to nutrition and hydration. Women and minorities were proportionately represented in generally positive photographs. Ageing terminology was largely neutral (with use of "older" or "ageing", for example) with far less being negative (words such as "impaired" and "senile"), but even less being positive, with little use of words like "active" or "independent". These textbooks may not help students acquire the broad knowledge needed to work with older people or to develop positive attitudes about ageing. Recommendations for authors, publishers and instructors are provided. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-040622214 A
Classmark	CC: BG: L: TOB: 64A
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.