Disrupting Othering by Fostering Light-Bulb Moments in Immersive Practical Experiences

Fully immersive experiences (i.e., practica, internships, clinicals) with older adults are one successful strategy to reduce ageist beliefs among students, as long as the experiences are high quality and students are given an opportunity to reflect on their observations, feelings, and application of classroom knowledge. Representing a more intensive level of engagement than single-session interviews or multisession intergenerational activities, such experiences are not without challenges. Instructors are not present on-site continually (or at all) to observe what the student is seeing or doing, therefore providing limited opportunity to recognize and reframe situations that may reinforce the “othering” of older adults. Through creating carefully curated reflection prompts and assessment strategies (such as eportfolios), this presenter will discuss how instructors can ensure students completing practica, internships, and clinicals recognize the breadth and diversity of aging experiences, engage ethically and appropriately with older adults in non-ageist ways, and avoid reinforcing “othering” and ageism.