Ageism is alive and well and can harm health |
Nearly all older adults have experienced some form of ageism in their day-to-day lives, according to new research. "Ageism may be the most common form of discrimination and the most socially condoned form," said study author Julie Ober Allen, an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Oklahoma. "Awareness of how harmful racism, sexism, homophobia and other '-isms' can be has increased in the last 60 years, but ageism still gets overlooked and ignored," she said, observing that "Some older adults may laugh it off like it's no big deal, but they may internalise it, and these internalised ageism beliefs and stereotypes may be the most harmful." When internalised, ageism can affect mental and physical health, Allen said. "Like other -isms, ageism is a source of stress, and people have a stress response, so we expect the physical reactions will be the same." |
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