Is picture worth a thousand words? Exploring photo-elicitation for training medical students' awareness of age-related assumptions

Abstract

With the increased exposure to frail and vulnerable older patients, medical students may develop tendency to view the ageing negatively. Age-related biases might include seeing ageing as a frustrating process of decline, infirmity and decay. A recent cross-sectional survey in China reported that first-year medical students held more favourable attitudes toward older adults than senior students would, hinting attitudes might have been affected by knowledge in the medical school. (Zhao et al., 2020) This phenomenon is perhaps more worrisome at a time when COVID-19 has exacerbated intergenerational tension. Most recently, the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) and has called for action to 'change how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing'.

Visual images evoke emotions, abstract ideas and our shared human experience. In narrative pedagogy, photography could be an effective modality to illustrate teaching themes. For instance, images of senile ad frail older adults could elicit learners' apprehension of and feelings toward geriatric care, thereby enabling dialogue about stereotypes and in turn facilitating empathy, insight, and perspective-taking. (Linz, 2011) Research also suggest that socializing medical students with healthy seniors through visual art could foster positive attitudes toward the other age group. (Gonzales et al., 2010)

In the HKU medical school, we sought to harness the potential of photo-elicitation for learning medical humanities and ageing. Through intergenerational exchange and the use of visual triggers, medical students, aged care experts and older persons jointly explored our perceptions and personal assumptions towards ageing and old age.