Ageism webinars: a needs-based continuing education training for the national aging network

To combat ageism, the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) launched two Ageism Webinars (AWs). The study's aims were to 1) assess the effectiveness of the AWs for increasing participants' perceived familiarity (FAM) and knowledge (KNOW) and producing high behavioral intent to implement recommended action steps and quality among participants, and 2) practice equitable evaluation by ascertaining whether outcomes were fairly achieved by participants regardless of race, age, and education. A convenience sample of mostly educated non-Hispanic females with an average age of 52 years (n = 193) completed a retrospective online survey post-webinar. A retrospective Likert scale noted an overall increase in perceived FAM and KNOW (p < 0.001). However, these changes were significantly smaller (p < 0.05) among those from historically marginalized races and ethnicities. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) items predicted high intention to complete the recommended action step following the webinars. High satisfaction for webinars was reported, with 98.7% wanting to attend future NRCNA training. This study provides evidence of an effective training modality for addressing ageist perspectives, and the demonstrated differences provide insight into how to improve the AWs and the evaluation of future webinars.