For those who have experienced this, you may remember cringing: A well-meaning nurse or physician called you “dear,” or asked you in an excessively sweet voice to “take this pill” or take a deep breath. This is considered “Elderspeak” and it reeks of ageism when it’s used in the health-care arena. Perhaps well-intended, it nonetheless makes you feel like a child or infers that you may not understand what’s going on. However, most of us understand all too well what’s going on: The system has a serious problem disconnecting ageist images of older patients from the reality of the living, breathing, and capable older adults who populate health-care settings. And that’s a serious problem given demographic trends. By 2030, older adults will outnumber children in the US and by 2060, one out of every 4 Americans will be over 65. And with a shortage of geriatricians already existing, and demand for geriatricians expected to rise significantly in the coming years, that really spells trouble for older patients who will need the informed and comprehensive eye of professionals to understand the impact of aging on the body, mind, and spirit.

Furthermore, ageism is evident not only in language but in the way the system provides care for, and discriminates against, older patients. In a provocative recent article for Kaiser Health News, journalist Judith Graham details the way providers and systems have poorly treated older adults, made all the more profound given the pandemic and the hundreds of thousands of older patients who have died due to COVID in the last 1 ½ years. Graham describes both explicit ageism evident in health-care settings (like implementation of “crisis standards of care” during COVID, which include age cut-offs when health care is rationed or triaged) to more implicit forms of ageism, that lead younger health-care professionals to shun or disrespect older patients, stereotyping them as frail and decisionally incompetent. Just because you walk or speak more slowly doesn’t mean the wheels aren’t turning inside your brain, yet all too many times providers turn away from an older patient and seek out younger family members when decisions need to be made. And at times, older patients may not be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to accessing available treatments. In fact, during COVID, the organization Justice in Aging has sued states such as Idaho for denying access to life-saving care for older COVID patients.

Unfortunately, this sort of treatment of older adults by the health-care delivery system is nothing new. In fact, a 2015 study reported that 20% of Americans over age 50 stated they had experienced discrimination in a health-care setting due to their age, leading to inappropriate or inadequate care. However, the pandemic has really shined a light on this discriminatory treatment of older patients, and conversations to change the culture have now begun in earnest. In fact, Kaiser Health News recently sponsored a virtual conference, “Confronting Ageism in Health Care: A Conversation for Patients, Caregivers and Clinicians.” Moderated by Judith Graham, the panel of experts included esteemed geriatricians and advocates along with patients and caregivers. Using the pandemic as the starting point to highlight the often dehumanizing way older patients have been treated during COVID, the conversation (videotaped and available to watch for free) explores what needs to be done to improve the care and compassion available for older adults in health-care settings and elevate geriatric patient care to the level of respect and recognition it well deserves. To find out more, watch here.