For the past 30 years, Family Alliance has honored the personhood of each individual, working to enhance the lives of older adults.

This year, Family Alliance is committed to bringing our message to the community and launching its first official Campaign Against Ageism, educating young and old on discrimination and its overall effect on the health of our citizens, our community and our nation.

In 1968, Dr. Robert Butler coined the term “ageism.” Yet, in spite of the growing number of older adults, ageism continues to permeate almost every aspect of our lives. According to the American Society on Aging, ageism is shaping up to be as potent a problem as it has ever been. Age discrimination is evident in elder abuse, healthcare discrimination, discrimination in nursing homes, discrimination in emergency services, workplace discrimination, discrimination in the media and discrimination in marketing.

However, awareness of this social ill is very limited and although we all are aging, many of us contribute to the problem by perpetuating stereotypes of aging in our own lives. A fear of growing old, manifested by negative stereotypes and language that belittles growing old is evident in our youth-oriented culture, where everyone is trying to look “younger,” whatever that may mean, up to and including having invasive surgeries that promise to “erase the years.”

As an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, Becca Levy conducted several studies on the effects of negative messages on older adults and found that little insults can lead to more negative images of aging and can, in fact, worsen functional health over time. A long term study showed that those who had positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer—a bigger increase than that associated with exercising or not smoking. In another study, Levy found that cultures isolated from negative imagery about aging showed higher cognitive functioning and in a separate study people who were exposed to positive images of aging performed better on cognitive tests. In yet another study, Levy found that older adults who watched television had significantly worse attitudes about aging than those who did not.

So what needs to change? It’s not really what, but WHO needs to change? The answer is we all do.

We all need to pay attention to our language. We all need to pay attention to how we view ourselves as we age. Do we lie about our age or try to hide it? Do we support corporations that tout “anti-aging” products and the search for the fountain of youth? Do we joke about poor memory as we get older? Do we talk about certain illnesses as if they are synonymous with aging? Do we support media that depicts positive role models in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond? Are we resigned to being marginalized or do we command respect for our life experiences?

Our society needs the wisdom of the ages. So please join us as we campaign against ageism. Send us positive images of aging that we may share on this site. It’s time to celebrate!

If you’d like to learn more on this topic and what you can do, please click here to visit the Gray Panthers Twin Cities or read AGEWISE Fighting the New Ageism in America by Margaret Morganroth Gullette