Analysis Around Ageism
Ageism Is Not a Catch-all: The Interrelatedness of Ageism and Ableism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tracey Gendron
Aging includes multidimensional and multidirectional changes in biology, psychology and social roles. With aging, individuals experience physiological changes that impact ability, stamina, and reserve capacity. Given the natural occurrence of physical decline accompanying aging, it is essential to understand if fear and prejudice toward disability (ableism) intersect and influence fear and anxiety about aging (ageism). A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using ResearchMatch for study recruitment, 913 individuals responded to questions regarding three types of ageism, including affinity for older people, internalized ageism, and relational ageism, as well as internalized and relational ableism. Internalized ageism was significantly associated with relational ageism, fear of physical disability, fear of cognitive disability, and affinity for older people. Relational ageism was associated with internalized ageism, relational ableism, fear of physical disability, fear of sensory disability, fear of cognitive disability and affinity for older people. Examining the intersection of ageism and ableism represents the next pivotal juncture to developing effective anti-ageism interventions that address the root anxieties influencing negative attitudes about aging and fears of growing older. Public policy initiatives to address community-level interventions and targeted training to inform discourse that addresses the intersection between ageism and ableism are critical to addressing these issues and promoting age and ability inclusivity.
Singapore’s Future Cohort of Ageing: The Challenges of Tomorrow’s New Old – A Heartfelt Discussion
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kerindir Kaur
Ageism is described as discrimination or prejudice against older people (Butler 1995 as cited in Palmore 2001 p. 572). Ageing is an inevitable phenomenon and a growing problem worldwide. In Singapore, this problem is further magnified due to Singapore having one of the world’s lowest fertility rates and one of the world’s longest life expectancies. Through the findings of a focus group conducted, this study investigates the challenges faced by a group of the “young” old women population in Singapore. Specifically, this research examines the challenges associated with a distinguished group of “young” old women also known as ‘Tomorrow’s New Old’ or TNO in Singapore. While the term TNO refers to both genders of the mature population, the research cited in this paper chooses to address only the challenges faced by the TNO women. While both the “young” old and “old” old face somewhat similar challenges such as prioritizing financial preparedness and the need for someone to care for them in latter years or when faced with debilitating illness but the characteristics or features that define a TNO and sets them apart is the way they deal with the challenges of ageism. TNO refers to a transitioning mix of homemakers and professionals, between the age of 52 to 62 i.e. those turning 60-70 in 2030. This research, through a focus group discussion of 20 TNO women in Singapore attempts to understand how the challenges TNOs face differ from the challenges faced by the “old” old.
Revisiting Age Stigma: We Are Defeated Not Only by Time
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Teeranoot Siriwittayakorn, Thanasak Sirikanerat
People are often categorized by age number as being young or old, and older adults are often discriminated because of the decline in their cognitive ability and everyday-life performance. Contrary to this traditional categorization, this study investigates an alternative view of ageing which argues that ageing is a continuous process, and examines whether other factors including stress, sleep habit, education, and working memory capacity are responsible for the inefficiency of cognitive and verbal performance. From a working memory test, it was found that age was a predictor for the decline in working memory capacity. On top of that, stress interacted with age resulting in an adverse effect on older adults’ working memory capacity. To test whether cognitive deterioration resulted from age affects verbal performance, an everyday-life activity shared by the majority of people, and whether each individual factor could directly affect verbal performance, a picture naming task and a storytelling task were conducted. From these verbal assessment tasks, it was clear that disfluency increased as the number of age increased. Moreover, regardless of age individuals with lower working memory capacity were found be more disfluent, and there was a small sign of negative effect of longer hours of sleep on verbal fluency. Taken all the results together, the study supports the view that ageing is a continuous process that occurs in everyone’s life. Moreover, it is not age alone that contributes to cognitive and verbal performance deterioration, and therefore, stigma attached to older adults should be reconsidered.
