EFFECTS OF USE OF PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE ON ELDERLY CLIENTS' ABILITIES TO LEARN ABOUT SODIUM IN FOODS.
Contributors: Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 135
Subjects: Education, Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Nutrition.
Description: In the United States today there is an increase in the number of elderly persons, many of whom are living independently. Chronic diseases are common among the elderly and the cost of caring for people with chronic disease is increasing. Cardiovascular disease is frequent and its treatment often requires the person to reduce sodium intake. These people require teaching, but what are effective ways of teaching people 65 years and older?.

This study concentrated on the area of crystallized intelligence which demonstrates that if an elderly person's previous knowledge is the basis upon which new knowledge is built, the person should be better able to learn the new information. The hypothesis which was tested was the following: Elderly clients who are taught information about restricted sodium diets using their previous knowledge will learn more than those who are taught not using their previous knowledge.

The design of the study was pretest-posttest with subjects randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. A researcher developed test of the sodium content in foods was used as the pretest and the posttest. For the experimental group the investigator examined the results of the pretest and based new information on those results. For the control group, the investigator did not look at the pretest, but used a standardized format for teaching about sodium in foods.

The sample consisted of 40 persons from suburban areas of a large metropolitan area in the midwest. The age range was from 65 to 91 and over. There were 14 males and 26 females. Thirty-three were Caucasian, five were Black, and two Asian. Most had 9-12 years of school or a college degree.

Analysis of covariance showed that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group using the score on the posttest as the dependent variable with the pretest and educational level as covariates. Therefore the hypothesis was confirmed. An implication of these findings was that if health professionals determine what a client knows about his health, and actively use that assessment as a part of the teaching method, the client may be able to learn better.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2120.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0163.