Ageism

Have you encountered it? Perhaps it was a patronizing tone from someone you asked for help. Or perhaps it was the loss of a promotion at your office or the silence when you recently applied for a new job? Or, if you live in a less-developed country, perhaps you lost…

Whether on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, you’ve likely encountered older women who have made a name and face for themselves by becoming “Influencers.” These platforms have clearly gone beyond the territory of millennials as you can now encounter hundreds of sites with hashtags such as #over50style or #fashionatanyage that try…

Throughout the pandemic (and even before that) we’ve been tracking the ageist attitudes and impact that ageism can have on older adults. Whether it’s been questioning the provision of limited COVID treatments for older adults or the layoffs of older workers during the economic downturn (not to mention the often…

If there’s one thing that’s come through loud and clear during the pandemic, it’s that older adults have, at best, an ambiguous place in our society. Most impulses during COVID have been to either protect or abandon older adults, neither of which is respectful toward older individuals, who are as…

Congratulations to all of us “older adults:” Today, October 1st, is the International Day of Older Persons, begun 30 years ago by the United Nations. The goal of this celebration is to raise awareness of the issues that older adults confront and to appreciate the contributions that older adults make…

While the news about the coronavirus and older adults continues to be worrisome, what’s also disturbing is the continued presence of ageist stereotypes and our portrait of older adults during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, as a group of noted geriatricians and gerontologists recently proclaimed, “Older adults have shown remarkable…