lOMoARcPSD|3013804
lOMoARcPSD|3013804
Due to the increasing percentage of older adult clients in the U.S., it is imperative that healthcare
providers assess and confront their own attitudes and perceptions toward older adults.
In your initial post, address the following:
1. Describe ageism and its impact on societal views of older adult clients.
2. Explain how ageism can influence the healthcare provisions of older adult clients.
3.
As a healthcare provider, how can one best assess and confront attitudes,
perceptions,
behaviors, and biases toward older adults?
According to the World Health Organization “Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think),
prejudice (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age
(WHO,
2021). In what we are studying, ageism plays a huge role and takes an even bigger toll
on the whole of the older adult community. It is easy to overlook ageism when it’s spoken about
so little, in comparison to other current issues. It is even easier to accidently blame things on the
elderly, like calling your
grandmother a crazy old lady when she says something far fetched at family
dinner. When we should be
praising them for all the knowledge, they have gained in their many
years of life here. In our western culture the older adult community is viewed as a burden if
nothing else. Which is unfortunate, however, this can all be stemmed back to ageism and how
we talk and treat our older adults as a whole. It’s difficult for older adults and the elderly to feel
good about themselves when all they hear is negative
remarks made from the younger
communities. For example, many older adults are less likely to get hired
for a job based on their age
because of the negative remarks that are made on how they may have a hard time with
technology, or work slower, or are hard of hearing. All of those are just patronizing ageism
remarks that play a huge role on how society views age and the older adult community.
