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Ageism and health care
Ageism and health care
Attitudes toward elderly
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The Impact of Ageism on Health Care: Quality of Care and Perceptual Implications
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
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...6 in 2050” (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2012, p. 15). Comparatively, in 1900 the average life expectancy was 47 (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2012, p. 15). This is relevant with regards to ageism in that the need for trained health care professionals in the field of gerontology will be astounding, but because of the current perceptions of older adults there is a gross lack of these specialty providers. “It has been estimated that by 2030, 3.5 million formal health care providers-a 35 percent increase from current levels-will be needed just to maintain the current ratio of providers to the total population” (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p, 15). The prediction is that all health care providers will spend at least 50 percent of their time working with older adults; increased competency while eliminating ageist attitudes is paramount for quality health care (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 15).
Stigmas and stereotypes plague modern day society. Stigmas regarding race, gender, and religion are publically fought over and receive a great deal of attention; however, stereotypes concerning old age are frequently overlooked; perceived to be just a part of our normal society. Old age is an accomplishment and an individual should be proud and ought to celebrate his or her milestones. Birthday cards often undermine the value of old age, and make-up companies, magazines, and both mainstream and social media generally discount older individuals unless advertising ways to feel, act, or appear younger. One man who defies the stigma of old age and rejoices in it is my Grandfather Marvin. Marvin is a seventy-seven-year-old male who lives in Oskaloosa,
There are profound effects of ageism that can be harmful to a patient’s overall health. Ageism can cause physicians to consistently treat older patients unequally compared to younger adults. Unequal treatment can be divided into the under-treatment of symptoms and the over-treatment of symptoms. The imbalance in how a physician would treat a geriatric patient is ageist because the older adult is not getting fair treatment in every case. Under-treatment and over-treatment are different; however, they are both equally as harmful to a patients health.
One potential form of oppression in this case is ageism. Johnny is 17 and in juvenile court. A main reason Johnny is involved in the court system is due to risk taking behavior. While risk taking behavior is developmentally appropriate for his age and stage, the courts do not always see it in that light. A study conduced with young adults, the average age being nineteen, explored what impact risk taking had on the social process and what impact ageism had on risk taking. Essentially, this study tracked the risk taking behavior of individuals who were placed in social situations where risk taking could have a social benefit as well as being surrounded by ageist attitudes such as the fact they are young means they will take risks. Risk taking included substance use and sensation risk taking which ranged from risky sexual acts to violence. This study showed a positive correlation between ageist attitudes and social benefits in regards to risk taking (Popham, Kennison, Bradley, 2011). Many judges take this risk taking behavior into account, and it can be hypothesized that judges display agist attitudes when working with
Adults entering the midlife years (middle adulthood) are experiencing an overabundance of life changes. Hall, Hernandez, Wong, and Justice (2015) stated that, during middle adulthood important changes occur across the physical, cognitive, and social domains of development. There is a mounting amount of research on the changes that middle-aged adults experience. One of the most unexplored factor that middle-aged adults experience is Ageism. Ageism can be defined as the act of being prejudice or discriminative towards a specific age group. Although, Ageism can occur at any given place and in any age group. Research shows that it is more prevalent in older adults,
“If I can buy enough pills, cream, and hair, I can avoid becoming old” (Esposito, 1987). Western cultures are champions of stigmatizing the complex, delicate, remarkable process that is aging. Generally, people rely on physical cues to categorize each other in races, genders, and ages. What comes to mind immediately when the word “old” or “elderly” comes about? Quick identifiers like white hair, wrinkles, and slow-moving, are always associated with the elderly. Simply, the labels that are given i.e. elderly, old people, seniors, and senior citizens contribute to the categorization of this group of people. Like prejudice or discrimination, “ageism” refers to the adverse attitudes, stereotypes, and behaviors focused toward older adults based
Attitudes are the foundation of quality of care for older adults. Among health care professionals, discrimination and stereotypical behaviors are very prevalent, even though more often than not these individuals do not realize their actions are ageist. “Ageism hinders people from seeing the potential of aging, anticipation their own aging, and being responsive to the needs of older people” (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). Attitudes are directly correlated with how individuals age and whether individuals stay health and live longer (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). The care that older adults receive from healthcare professionals is directly influenced by that provider’s attitude about growing older. All too often, health care providers rely on a patient’s chronological age rather than their functional age when determining their needs and what interventions are prescribed. Another issue lies in providers viewing the complaints of older patients as a part of “normal aging”, therefore potentially missing life-threatening problems that may have been easily resolved. “Age is only appropriate in health treatment as a secondary factor in making medical decisions, and it should not be used as a stand-alone factor” (Nolan, 2011, p. 334).
Our current health care workforce is vastly under equipped to care for the rapidly aging senior population. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates that by the year 2030, the demand for geriatricians will swell to 36,000 (Herdman et al., 2008). Today there are approximately 7,000 physicians trained in geriatric care and this number is steadily declining (Herdman et al., 2008). This critical shortage requires immediate action to ensure that the elderly are receiving the adequate care that they need.
Ageism is a term that has been coined by Butler (1969), which he described through three distinguishable yet interrelated factors. Firstly, Butler reported that ageism is a prejudicial attitude towards people who are ageing which includes the elderly themselves. Secondly, these attitude can then translate to discriminatory practices against the elderly, in area of social participation including access to safe housing. Lastly, ageism can also seep through to institutional practices and policies, which often without malice, perpetuate stereotypical beliefs about the elder, which results in reduction of opportunities for the elder people to enjoy a satisfactory life and subsequently undermines their personal dignity (Duffy, 2016). Furthermore, according to the Human Rights Commission, Ageism is entrenched
As the population of the United States ages and lifespan increases, the U.S. is being faced with challenges that could either hurt the country or benefit it if plans are executed correctly. By the year 2050, more than thirty-two million Americans will be over the age eighty and the share of the 80-plus generation will have doubled to 7.4 percent. Health care and aging population has become a great deal considering the impact it is having on the U.S. The United States is heading into another century with an outstanding percentage of people within the aging population. Today’s challenges involving health care and the aging populations are the employees of health professions being a major percentage of the aging population, the drive into debt, and prevention and postponement of disease and disability.
According to DeBrew, author of “Can being ageist harm your older adult patients?” stereotypes and discrimination are evident in various aspects of patient care. “Ageism [is] defined as stereotyping or discrimination aimed at older adults and a lack of knowledge about normal changes of aging and presentation of illness in older adults (. . .)” (DeBrew, 2015). DeBrew (2015) states, “research findings suggest that ageism is common in healthcare” (DeBrew, 2015). Ageism is not only an issue in the healthcare setting, but also among older adults as well as their families. When ageism is present in the healthcare setting it poses
The growing shortage of geriatricians, doctors trained to treat older people, is a crisis in the making. However, the way the editorial “An Aging Population Without the Doctors to Match,” makes the case, is deeply
In an article written by Eymard and Douglas (2012), there is a growing discrimination against older people affecting the way they are treated in the health care setting. Moreover, Eymard and Douglas (2012) referred to this type of stereotyping and mistreatment as ageism. What is more, Eymard and Douglas (2012) cited multiple studies linked ageism to poor delivery of care. Since there is a prediction of significant growth of the older people, 65 years old and above, population in the near future, Eymard and Douglas (2012) stressed the need for health care providers to eliminate biases and work on improving health outcomes of this aging population. To start, reflecting on one’s culture, societal practice, and experiencing the older adults’ situations can lead to deeper insights of the older adults’ health needs.
305). Society is constantly bombarded by messages informing us about how to reduce the signs of aging, instead of accepting the natural process (Germov, 2014, p. 305). These beliefs have lead to ageism being very common in society. Ageism is best defined as the negative attitudes, which are associated with the aging process (Novak, 2006, p. 3). Ageism involves an individual or group being stereotyped and experiencing discrimination due to their biological age (Novak, 2006, p. 3). This discrimination can be direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment (Johnson, 2013, p. 27). Unlike other individuals and groups who are stereotyped and discriminated against, those who are making these comments will one day themselves be of old
When I was presented with the concept of ageism I was sure that not only was it a limited phenomenon, but that I had never participated in such discrimination. Sadly, as this class ends I find that not only have I unwittingly participated in forms of ageism, it is all around me. Ageism is ubiquitous in American culture. Like other ‘isms’, such as racism and sexism, it lumps a large group of people together and reduces them to a negative common denominator. Most people, myself included are not even aware that that ageism exists, worse we don’t recognize it when we see it.
The most prominent population within any healthcare facility is the geriatric patients. According to Griffin (2011), “While people older than age 65 represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, this group consumes one-third of healthcare services and occupies one-half of all physicians time”. Thus, every healthcare worker should have some degree of training in geriatrics for proper management. The aging population requires additional services in order to recover and live a better quality of life. Understanding gerontology is important considering we cannot treat every patient as if they are the same. With a growing aging population it is best to have geriatrics knowledge and skills so that the outcomes of care improve.