In July this year the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) published a report Changing perspectives: testing an ageism intervention.
In her introduction, Dr Kay Patterson, Aged Discrimination Commissioner, said “Ageist attitudes, such as perceptions of older age as a burden on society and older adults as inferior, contribute to a climate where elder abuse is undetected and even implicitly tolerated. In the workplace, negative age stereotypes are associated with a lower preferred retirement age among older workers, influence hiring decisions and deter older people from applying for jobs”.
She found that “ageism remains the most accepted and normalised form of prejudice in Australia. In 2021, the AHRC released its What’s age got to do with it? report about perceptions of age and ageism among adults in Australia. This revealed the pervasiveness of ageism in Australian society: 90% of the national sample surveyed by the Commission agreed ageism exists in Australia, 63% reported they had experienced it in the last five years, and 83% saw it as a problem. Despite this, 60% of those surveyed also reported they have stereotyped others or made assumptions about people based on their age, and 52% believed making jokes about age is more socially acceptable than making jokes about other things like race or gender.
Dr Patterson concluded by encouraging everyone to consider what they can do to challenge ageist stereotypes and promote a more inclusive society for people of all ages.
Executive Summary
Ageism is a serious problem. The World Health Organization’s 2021 Global Report on Ageism found that one in two people worldwide are ageist, and called ageism “prevalent, ubiquitous, and insidious”.
It is also widespread in Australian society. The AHRC’s 2021 What’s age got to do with it? report found that 90% of adults agree ageism exists in Australia, 83% consider it to be a problem, and 65% believe it affects people of all ages.
Ageism – particularly against older adults – is so deeply ingrained in our societal norms and values that it can be difficult to recognise within ourselves and our surroundings. For example, ageist language is often hidden behind humour and good intentions, and used without any intent or awareness of implicit bias against older adults.
Sometimes it is the way age is absent from discussions that reflects devaluation of older adults. A global survey of 6,000 employers from 36 countries found age was missing from the diversity and inclusion policies of more than one in two businesses. Early in the pandemic, devaluing of older people’s lives was evident in media coverages of coronavirus-related deaths. Younger people who died from complications of COVID-19 often attracted individual focused media attention, while the deaths of older adults tended to be aggregated and reported as numbers.
Ageism has serious consequences for older people’s health and wellbeing. Studies have consistently shown links between ageism and adverse health outcomes such as shorter lifespan, reduced quality of life and wellbeing, physical and mental health conditions, and cognitive impairment.
While there is a body of evidence demonstrating that interventions such as educational and intergenerational programs can be effective in reducing ageism, most existing research has been conducted in the United States or in formal education settings. In view of these gaps, the Commission set out to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief, one-off educational intervention in reducing ageist attitudes among workers in aged care and community settings. Ageism among this population is a particularly serious concern, as it has the potential to directly affect the wellbeing and quality of life of the older adults they support.
The Commission’s research aimed to contribute to a greater understanding of how negative perceptions of ageing and older adults may be shifted. The idea was not to replace negative views with positive ones, but to encourage participants to recognise the multidimensionality of ageing and avoid overly simplistic and generalised views of older adults.
The results provide support for a brief, targeted intervention to drive positive changes in attitudes and behaviour that may be sustained over time.