Is Ageism Against The Older People Could Potentially Be Reversed Through The Participation Of A Lifespan Human Development Course

The article dated 09.06.2016 by, Greater Good Science Center was an interesting article that talks about aging and how some people have negative attitudes towards the concept of getting older. There are many people that fear getting older because they feel that old age will make them less popular and looked upon as an old person. They feel that young people will toss them aside and forget about them. Some even feel that their own families will push them away and will not have time to spend with them because their hearing gets bad or their walking gets slower and many other reason but they feel that there is a lack of respect for older people these days as well. Many people do not respect nor treat

These stereotypes, however, are very far from the truth about what occurs during the late adulthood stage. They stem from a form of prejudice referred to as ageism (Berger, 2008). Gerontologists define ageism as “A form of prejudice used to categorize and judge individual based on their chronological age only” (Berger, 2008, p. 615). The issue of ageism can promote patronizing treatment toward persons in the late adulthood stage and even foster discrimination. For example, people in the West unconsciously process

The relationship we have with our elders is one of the most important relationships we can have. We can learn a great deal about life from elders who have already experienced some of what we’re going through. Rudolfo Anaya, the author of the essay “A Celebration of Grandfathers”, warns that part of humanity will be lessened if we don’t have close relationships with the elderly, and this phrase holds a lot of meaning. The amount that the elderly can teach us not just about life, but about challenges we will face, is incomparable. We learn morals, manners, and life lessons that will stick with us until we ourselves become elderly. Humanity will lessen if we lose our relationship with the elderly in the sense that we have lost the connection to

Ageism and stereotypes of older people can have an important impact on their physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing. Negative stereotypes of older people being dependent and decrepit can be internalized and become self-fulfilling. These ageist thoughts and stereotypes can lead to older people not seeking health care in general and to not get treatment appropriate for their illness or medical condition due to their age and not based on any other factor.

Modern society view’s aging as a form of sickness and the elderly as persons who are closer to dying and death. This is what is often portrayed in our mass and social media. When considering issues of aging sociologists have found that more positive characteristics are often said for persons under sixty five years than for over sixty five years.

Many sociologists believe that, like childhood, the age status is socially constructed. Many discussions about old age are negative and stereotypical, therefore it is constructed as a problem. People have different critical stereotypes of elderly people, they see them as, slow, old fashioned, complaining all the time and many other traditional stereotypes. An example of this would be the Griffiths Report. This report claimed that the care of the elderly was pushing society to facing the problem of meeting the growing costs that health and social care needs in order to help the growing number of elderly people. There has also been a recent fear of the ‘pension time bomb’ this has also caused some negative attitudes and concerns that the ageing population creates a

The aging population is the fastest growing population in our nation. By the year 2030, it is estimated that approximately 61 million people will be between the ages 65 -85 and 9 million individuals will be ages 85 and older (Ouchida &Lachs, 2015). Perceptions of the elderly have slightly changed for the better in recent years, but biases and discrimination are still very widespread in our society today. “Ageism” is a phrase coined by Robert Butler in 1969 and implies a preconception, prejudice, and discrimination against older adults and can come in many forms.

Ageism can affect both the youth and the elderly, but in today’s times it is mainly focused on the elderly. The elderly are constantly harassed, judged, and stereotyped for their age. The elderly are viewed as disabled, has-beens, and basically serve no propose, instead of being viewed as wise, bold, experienced, and valuable. In the article “Putting The

Merriam-Webster (1980) defines Ageism: any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of age or any assignment of roles in society purely based on age; ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. Discrimination towards the elderly is apparent throughout society. Society has a negative stereotype related to perceptions on aging. We live in a youth-oriented society that does not view the elderly with respect and dignity due to today’s culture and media. The emphasis that are put on ‘staying young’ are enforced on every level. From plastic surgery to every way you could think of to stay ‘young and healthy’ is everywhere you look. The outlook on growing old is a stigma. The stereotypes that are put on older people can be done subconsciously a variety of ways in our everyday life. A few of these stereotypes are: older people are lousy drivers, they are grouchy, weak and incapable. How many times have you been driving behind an elderly person and became aggravated. Or standing behind an older person checking out at a store, they are older, it takes them a little longer to do things. Or even in the ways people speak about the elderly and the negative energy that goes along with it. If you start to pay attention to it, you will start to realize how common it actually is. These characterizations allow our society to disregard the geriatric population and who they really are. There are numerous quality-of-life issues

The aging of society has not significantly changed our perceptions of the elderly. Ageism is widespread in Western societies (Dionigi, et al, 2011). Older adults are seen as boring, grumpy irritable, weak, debilitated, mournful, and most significantly cognitively. These stereotypes which are negative can be allowed by the aged themselves negative self-stereotyping (Dionigi, et al, 2011) and are as well found among specialized caregivers (e.g., Cowan, Fitzpatrick, Roberts, & While,2004). The image in relation to which older adults are more ineffectual than younger adults is predominantly dominant. Nevertheless, in a variety of domains, older adults are inclined to have analogous performances and at times even do better than younger

Ageism is becoming a major problem. The elderly population is predicted to double in the next eight years, having the effect of older people in the workforce, medical patients, and community members. This causes younger people to be around older people more often causing them to make generalizations. There has been an increased effort to stop age discrimination. Ageing is a natural occurring thing so most people in their lives will be affected by ageism. For one to fully understand ageism, one must know the definition, stereotypes, and the effect of those stereotypes.

“older people should be counseled against buying into negative stereotypes about aging, and instead they should focus on volunteering, and other empowering activities that promote increased self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. The community should be educated to promote positive views of aging and to dispel myths about aging. Programs that

In today’s society, many elderly people succumb to societies negative notion they are no longer needed because they are close to dying and have no desire to learn new things. Several studies have shown having a positive viewpoint regarding one’s personal experience toward aging decreases the probability of morbidity. The concept of “you can not teach an old dog new tricks” is an excuse. This negative perspective towards aging has a direct impact on the person’s health. It develops a sense of hopefulness to remain healthy and

An experiment performed on young and old people showed that when the participants were told negative stereotypes about their intellect they performed worse on memory tests than those who were not told a stereotype. This research concludes that negative stereotypes have a negative effect on a person’s mental capacity and increases their mental aging. The finding that negative thoughts about elders magnifies their mental decline is seen in another experiment performed on older American and Chinese people to test the mental aging across cultures. The Chinese elders, who are generally optimistic about their age, performed higher on different skill tests than the American elders, who are generally unhappy with aging, did. This shows that aging may be due to social reasons as well as natural aging. Ageism occurs almost everywhere, including hospitals and doctor’s offices. Many health professionals do not want to work with older patients because of the general stereotypes for old people and they sometimes do not receive the proper care and treatment that they need. This discrimination in the health care system adds to the decline of physical and mental health in older people. People who believe the age stereotypes are more prone to becoming those stereotypes. Getting rid of these negative stereotypes and not viewing aging as bad can improve a person’s mental and physical health as they age and help them live longer. Elders who tend to fall into the negative stereotypes tend to have a higher mortality rate than those who do not. Pushing positive views of aging and older people can greatly increase their overall quality of life. There are many different ways to eliminate negative views of aging. Being more open to the idea of growing old and retiring, shining light on the benefits of a great life after retirement, having strong social bonds, educating people of all ages

Knowing and having an understanding of what ageing stands for, remains an important step, growing-up or growing older and ageism are theories about older individuals. Ageism includes preconceptions that elderly are categorized for their age and perceived as weak, and incapable of performing tasks and needy of others (Quadagno, 2014). Another view about elderly individuals is the way they are looked down on by the younger society, i.e. elderly are not as intelligent as their younger competitive working force. People fear what they do not know and do not understand. Age transpires as something that must be lived through in order to understand what ageing means; looking back on one’s life and seeing accomplishments made,