The status of gero-psychology in Australia: results of a national survey of practitioners and trainees

A significant increase in the number of older Australians is predicted over the next decade with corresponding increases in the amount of disorders potentially necessitating intervention from a psychologist. A survey was carried out with the aim of identifying key factors in a psychologist’s decision to work with older clients. Results from 1,498 practising clinicians Australia-wide identified training, as opposed to positive personal contact independent of training, as being the main influence on specialising in working with older clients. Critical to training was having had positive clinical experiences with older clients via a placement and having undergone training external to formal psychology education as indicated by independent group comparisons and logical regression analysis. Interest and confidence in working with older clients were attitudinal variables also identified as being influential. In order to examine directionality of these findings, over 300 graduate psychology program students were surveyed. Survey results were also important in gaining accurate information as to the number of psychologists practising in this specialty, their evaluations of training programs in terms of preparing them to work with older client groups and related demographic variables such as age and years of experience. Recommendations regarding future training in gero-psychology are put forward