Posted: March 4th, 2021

Ageism

Ageism
Which dimension of identity did you select and why?
Ageism refers to discrimination based on a person’s age. Personally, I think ageism is sometimes overlooked and the importance this plays in our growing elderly population. This prejudice resulting from age in the community leads to a decrease in time spent with the elderly in society. Aging is a normal developmental process in life and the community and even with this, the senior population is neglected, especially in the medical field. Negligence of the elderly in society results in less education on the aging population. The causes of ageism are environmental, psychological, and psychosocial factors. Identifying the factors contributing to ageism is an important policy that will minimize the impacts resulting in ageism.
Aging is a normal developmental process in life and the community and even with this, the senior population is neglected, especially in the medical field. Negligence of the elderly in society results in less education on the aging population. The causes of ageism are environmental, psychological, and psychosocial factors. Identifying the factors contributing to ageism is an important policy that will minimize the impacts resulting in ageism.

Describe social justice, advocacy, or awareness-raising activities you can start engaging in to support or advocate for members of this identity.

The Global Campaign to Combat Ageism was founded by the WHO. This is a “global strategy” to reach out to the policy makers and non profit organizations cross culturally. The WHO has compiled information on each country’s healthcare policy makers for elders and their family members. Additionally, this team is working to ensure that every healthcare system has medically trained staff and equipment for the geriatric population. Additionally, Meals on Wheels America has a major impact on the senior population. Some elderly individuals have trouble getting out of bed, some are waiting for the sunrise to go for their morning run. This non-profit organization has a motto of “more than just a meal”. The right to your doorstep food delivery service is for individuals who struggle to obtain their own food due to age or disability. As someone who has worked for this company, I can say that the motto is a true statement. In college when delivering the meals to these individuals I sometimes had short 10-15 minute conversations at their doorstep before delivering the meal inside the home. The smiles that I brought by them just having a person to connect to face to face is an incredible feeling.

https://www.who.int/ageing/ageism/campaign/en/
https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org

Interestingly, I think one way to generate “awareness” is the Implicit Association Test. This might seem like a simple task, but without first confronting your own biases, you will never know if ageism is an issue in your life. The geriatric population can go unnoticed, and if we are not careful as clinicians and human beings we will keep them as invisible until their death. Taking the Age IAT in this course developed a further yearning to help our older generations. As a future clinician I am excited to be able to support for these individuals and counsel them through their possibly challenging last years of their lives. Personally, I think I also would like to keep up with dementia and Alzheimer’s research. As someone who wants to work with this population, having the up to date news on new ways to help my future patients as a weekly ritual is an important way for me to continue learning and helping individuals who sometimes can’t help themselves.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

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