Since May is Older Americans Month and the theme this year is “Aging Unbound,” about helping communities avoid ageist stereotypes, I thought we could talk about that today. As modern medicine evolves, and people live longer, ageism is going to be an increasing problem. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how we try to avoid age-related stereotypes in homecare
What is Ageism?
Ageism is the prejudice against people because of their age, and comes with stereotypes that often revolve around assumptions of people’s abilities due to their age. A common misconception about ageism is that it is exclusively experienced by older people. Teenagers are often subject to ageism as well. It does not have to be experienced by older people.
What Assumptions do Older Adults Face?
Most of the ageism that older adults face has to do with people underestimating their ability to do things simply because of their age. This is why I focus on people’s level of mobility or dexterity rather than their age here on this blog. A common one that I see a lot is the idea that older adults cannot use technology. A lot of Generation Xers used computers at some point in their schooling and the oldest members of that generation are turning 60. Many Baby Boomers are still in the workforce and have been using computers in the workplace for twenty years at this point. Just because someone is older than fifty does not mean I’m going to act like they can’t turn on a computer.
How Can This Impact Their Care?
We’ll cover this more tomorrow, but underestimating an older adult can be at best demoralizing and at worst dangerous. We try to foster independence as much as we for the wellbeing of our clients, and pushing our assumptions on them hinders that. At worst, assuming incompetence from older people could mean that one will miss troubling signs of actual decline.
Stay tuned for tomorrow!
Written by Brigid Stakelum
