Gerson Galdamez co-authored this post.
Current events exposing racism and gender discrimination in our society have spurred conversations about what it means to treat each other with care and respect. Recent news has pushed us to face our own identities — both self-prescribed and outwardly-perceived — and contemplate the power those identities both grant and take away.
The good news is that many organizations focused on improving people’s lives have not shied away from this self-examination and have made commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice central to their work. This willingness has allowed conversations about discrimination to evolve and include discussions about other slices of identity, such as age. For Archstone Foundation, this has meant taking an intentionally close look at ageism and understanding how discrimination against older people – mainly in the form of negative and inaccurate stereotyping – has significantly harmed their health.
As we approach Ageism Awareness Day – Saturday, Oct. 7 this year – we urge all our partners to pay conscious attention to the impact of ageism in our society and consider how to reframe how we talk about aging in our communities.
Discrimination and prejudice based on age pervade the media, our workplaces, the healthcare system, and the delivery of social services. Ageism, in many direct and systemic forms, reduces the sense of well-being in older people, contributes to worse health outcomes, and costs our society billions of dollars. While it’s more veiled in our culture than such forms of discrimination as racism, sexism, and ableism, ageism plays a substantial role in the group of biases that create injustice. The identity of “older adult” awaits us all, and for many, it signals that the health inequities experienced throughout our lives will only be amplified as our need for health and social services grows.
Archstone Foundation’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of older Californians and their families. And as we continue to live longer and healthier lives, that mission will grow even more important. To effectively implement our vision of integrated health care and social service delivery through our Three T’s grantmaking strategy – promoting teams, enhancing training, and improving technology – we are always looking for new opportunities to advance that mission and enhance society’s understanding of and support for aging.
The Foundation has acted with our partners to support an array of strategies to increase awareness of and promote education about ageism, and then to adjust policies and practices to eliminate ageist outcomes. A prime example is our longtime support of the National Center to Reframe Aging, which works to shift public understanding of what aging means and promote all the ways that older people contribute to our society. Its latest resource is the Changing the Conversation Toolkit, an introduction to the principles of reframing aging and how to apply them to popular topics such as nursing home care, day-to-day activities, intergenerational work, and conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Another of its helpful tools (which the Foundation has incorporated into our communication strategy) is the Communication Best Practices: Reframing Aging Initiative Guide, which helps steer more effective and holistic conversations about aging and describes the contextual, social, and systemic factors shaping the aging experience – without a focus on dependence and disability.
We’re also proud to support ASA RISE, a leadership development program of the American Society on Aging that provides mentorship and training for people of color who aspire to become thought leaders in the field of aging.
We know ageism intersects and exacerbates other forms of prejudice and discrimination including racism, sexism, and ableism. Better understanding these intersecting forms of bias – and how ageism hurts our collective well-being – presents us with an opportunity to act. At a time when less than 1 percent of philanthropic dollars nationwide are dedicated to services for older adults, focusing on the intersection of aging and other societal challenges could create vital momentum to fund more creative solutions to meet the needs of older adults.
We don’t all need to be professionals in the field of aging to take steps that shift our conversations on aging. Here are four resources to help you get started:
- American Society on Aging Ageism Awareness Day
- Reframing Aging Quick Start Guide
- Reframing Aging’s Learning Center
- Gero-What?
Let’s mark Ageism Awareness Day this year by taking time to educate ourselves about ageism. We can start by considering our own language when we speak about aging, calling out negative stereotypes when we hear them, and promoting positive narratives about the value and contributions of older adults.
