TURKISH ADAPTATION OF THE GERIATRIC SOCIAL WORK COMPETENCY SCALE IN A GROUP OF SOCIAL WORK BACHELOR STUDENTS

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Geriatric Social Work Competency Scale (GSWCS) in a group of social work bachelor students. Materials and Method: To examine the validity and reliability of the scale, a Turkish version of the form was administered to 196 senior students from social work bachelor programs at Adnan Menderes, Ankara, Hacettepe, and Selcuk Universities. Of the randomly selected sample, 108 students (55.1%) were women and 88 (44.9%) were men, and their mean age was 23.24 years (standard deviation 1.66; range: 21-31 years). Results: Cronbach's alpha showed an internal consistency of 0.885 for the values subscale, 0.889 for the assessment subscale, 0.900 for the intervention subscale, 0.929 for the service subscale, and 0.966 overall. Principal component analysis was applied to examine the validity of the scale, and uncovered "values," "assessment," "intervention," and "service" as the four dimensions, explaining 45.067%, 56.352%, 53.252%, and 61.238% of the total variability, respectively. The total variability explained by all four dimensions was 59.27%. Conclusion: The current study with a group of social work bachelor students showed that GSWCS was a valid and reliable scale for the Turkish population.