Ageism is defined as systematic stereotyping (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) against people based on age. It affects people of all ages but most studies focused on the impact on older people. Ageism has negative consequences on health and well-being, with reports describing poor physical and mental health and earlier death. The World Health Organisation says that globally 1 in 2 people are ageist against older people.
Over the last decades there has been a marked increase in the number of older adults (by 2030 the population aged 60 years and over will increase to 1.4 billion) and an important proportion of them (93%) say that they experience at least one form of ageism. These includes institutional, interpersonal and internalised ageism.
Ageism in the work place includes refusing to hire people based on age-related reasons, asking for someone’s age at a job interview when it is not relevant, viewing older people as less productive, or viewing young people as irresponsible and unskilled. Interpersonal ageism comes in many forms such as treating family members as invisible and unintelligent, making jokes and offensive generalizations, taking advantage for personal gain and using age to undermine and abuse.
Globally, ageism is widespread in healthcare affecting from diagnosis to prognosis and it is associated with a decrease of 7.5 years of life expectations. Common manifestations are: a) Infantilising patients through baby talk as a common way to communicate with older adults what can increase resistance to care in people with dementia; b) Lack of knowledge and inaccurate ideas assuming that elderly people is less independent than they really are or spending less time with older patients; c) Lower levels of health with higher rates of memory impairment, cardiovascular disease and lower ill to live and; d) Violence, as they may be treated with less compassion.
Efforts to combat ageism include education to break down myths and stereotypes, intergenerational cooperation and empathy and policy changes to reduce inequity and discrimination.
Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), director of the Laboratory of Antibiotics and Molecular Bacteriology.