7 minute read
Just a number
in focus How ageism can affect your health
NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS OLDER PEOPLE ARE RIFE — AND THE IMPACT CAN SHAVE YEARS OFF YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY. BUT BY CHALLENGING THE STEREOTYPES, YOU COULD HAVE A HEALTHIER LATE ADULTHOOD
WORDS KAREN FITTALL
Half the world’s population is ageist against older people.
What’s more, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes, by the time a child turns four, they are aware of the common agerelated stereotypes that exist in our society.
And Australia is not immune to these stereotypes — far from it.
A 2021 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) found ageism is the most accepted form of prejudice in Australia, making it more pervasive than sexism or racism.
While ageism affects all adult age groups, advocacy campaign EveryAGE Counts is working to end ageism against older Australians.
“Unfortunately, ageism is rife and it’s highly tolerated,” campaign director Dr Marlene Krasovitsky says. “So we just accept all those jokes that are made about being older without challenging them.”
Ageism refers to how we think, feel and act towards others or ourselves based on age. Dr Krasovitsky explains that when applied to older people, ageism comes from “really deeply held, negative assumptions about growing older — a stage of our lives that’s often associated with death and decline and dependence and being past the stage of being able to do certain things”.
She adds the media plays its role in perpetuating negative thinking. “(Attitudes are) influenced by the rhetoric we often hear in the media or in reports about older people being a drain on the economy or a burden,” she says.
How prevalent is ageism here?
Research released by EveryAGE Counts in 2021 showed 45 per cent of Australians aged over 50 had experienced ageism in the past year.
Additionally, the AHRC’s What’s Age Got to Do with It? report notes 90 per cent of Australians believe ageism exists, and 69 per cent of people who have experienced ageism in Australia have stereotyped others based on their age.
Thanks to something called “stereotype embodiment” you might have even done it to yourself. This is where you have internalised a stereotype automatically, simply because of the society you are immersed in.
UNSW School of Psychology research fellow Dr Natasha Ginnivan says from school age onwards, we continue to take in stereotypes about older age “at an almost unconscious level”.
“And then, as we’re transitioning into midlife, all of a sudden it becomes self-relevant — and so our own psychology about growing older can be bad for us,” says Dr Ginnivan, also an associate investigator with the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute.
It can be so bad, in fact, that, according to Yale University research, older people with less positive self-perceptions of ageing tend to die 7.5 years earlier on average than people with more positive perceptions.
Ageism has also been linked to poorer physical and mental health and slower recovery from disability in older age.
Dr Krasovitsky adds that it can lead to greater financial insecurity and the health implications that go handin-hand with that. “It will also exacerbate social isolation and loneliness,” she says. “So ageism isn’t something to be trivialised — it has real health impacts.”
Why women have it worse
While ageism affects both men and women, it does so differently due to the way ageism and sexism often overlap.
Research confirms that women’s status in society tends to deteriorate faster with age than men’s. This can have a number of serious knock-on effects, but for starters research shows that in the healthcare system it can result in older women receiving different access to treatments and care than older men.
United States studies report older men usually receive more thorough medical examinations, more follow-up, more evidencebased medical care, and more preventative care than women, according to WHO’s 2021 Global
Report on Ageism. Professor Martha Hickey, director of gynaecology research at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital, says tackling the way we think about menopause is important to help address the impacts of gendered ageism. “Gender-based ageism is a significant problem and has adverse effects on women from all walks of life.
“The stigma surrounding menopause only compounds this,” says Prof Hickey, whose Normalising Menopause paper has been published in the British Medical Journal.
“I believe we need greater acceptance about menopause, as well as menstruation. We’re shamed for both of these things, which is not acceptable.”
Prof Hickey says we are also fed unhelpful myths about this life stage.
“The biggest myth regarding menopause is that it leads to
accelerated ageing. This is false. In an ideal world, menopause would be considered a normal part of ageing and of life for women.
“And evidence shows us that life in post-menopause is generally very positive, physically and psychologically. However we don’t hear about this very widely. We need to make some real changes in this area of medicine, starting with providing women with realistic information about what to expect. I think open discussion is also needed, as well as certain adjustments to workplace and medical therapies.”
What you can do
There are glimmers of hope that change is afoot. The release of the ageing reports by AHRC and WHO has shone a light on the issue and, in 2021, Australia had its first Ageism Awareness Day.
Dr Krasovitsky is encouraged. “We have a long way to go, but I think we have opened up the narrative,” she says.
WHO has identified three high-level reforms that can it in day-to-day life, you can’t un-notice it, which gives you the window to challenge and push back against it.”
Dr Ginnivan says this last step is particularly important, especially if ageism dictates what we feel we can and can’t do.
“We’re living an extra 30 years compared to a century ago,” she says. “We have a much longer midlife, but it’s limited by expectations and attitudes.
The proportion of Australia’s population aged 65 years and over increased from 12.3 per cent to 15.9 per cent from 1999 to 2019.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
reduce ageism. They involve policy and law, education, and bringing people together of different generations.
But Dr Ginnivan says there are things we can all start doing in our daily lives. She recommends the “ABC” method.
“The A is for awareness, so simply being aware that we’ve been socialised to view ageing in a certain way,” she says.
“The B is for blaming the systems of bias — things like the media and the cultural narratives that say, for example, it’s appropriate to give someone a birthday card that insults them about their age.
“And then C is for challenge. Once you become aware of ageism and you start to notice And it’s like a muscle. The more you challenge ageism, the more confident you’ll become.”
Dr Krasovitsky agrees. “At EveryAGE Counts, we’re encouraging people to have the conversation. If someone gives you a birthday card that portrays you as frail, forgetful or foolish, take a moment to think about the impact that’s had on you, and express that to the person.
“In an open and respectful way, start that conversation. Start calling out ageism and naming it for what it is, so we can all work towards ending it — or at least recognising it and finding a way to dismantle it.”
If you need help having that conversation, understanding what ageism looks like or responding to ageism when you encounter it, visit everyagecounts.org.au to learn more.
Think ageism is something that only impacts older Australians? Think again.
AHRC’s 2021 report into ageing shows the issue exists across the adult lifespan. In the previous five years, 68 per cent of young adults (aged 18-39), 58 per cent of middle-aged people (40-61) and 64 per cent of older people (62+) were affected by it. But it’s experienced di fferently at different life stages. While young adults typically experience ageism as being condescended to or ignored, middle-aged people are most likely to experience it as being turned down for a job. And for older people, ageism often means being “helped” without being asked.
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