Stereotypes in Ageing and the Harmful Effects of Ageism

This article discusses ageism and its impacts on older people. It highlights how ageism affects their employment, media stereotypes, social services, and community. The article also discusses how stereotypes based on race, socioeconomic status, weight, age and gender affect people. It concludes by discussing the impact of these stereotypes on the care of residents.

STEREOTYPES IN AGEING
Students’ name
Institution affiliated

Task 2
Ageism and its impacts
Ageism is the discrimination against people in terms of their age. Ageism poses a
challenge to older people and has harmful effects on their health. It makes them overlooked in
terms of employment, media stereotypes them, restriction from social services and also excluded
from the community. Media can be biased and at the same time have high tendencies in
promoting reliance on stereotypes(Dionigi, 2015). Their reference to older workers in terms of
skills and qualities affect their employment negatively. They associate older workers with poor
health and low productivity which have a greater and long-lasting impact on them as it creates
opportunities for age discrimination. This evokes fear for older people as being inadequately
valued (Palmore, Branch & Harris, 2016). They step aside to avoid confrontations with
employers (Abrams, Swift & Drury, 2016).

When it comes to caring for residents, stereotypes based on race, socioeconomic status,
weight, age and gender affect people. For example, viewing nursing homes as institutions for
housing people waiting to die affects the family and their loved one making them feel guilty
about their decisions which can affect their health mentally and physically. There are also
notions that older people are mean and bitter, have no family and cannot take care of
themselves(Dionigi, 2015). These stereotypes affect the care of the resident in such a way that
they feel dissatisfied with their care, distrustful of their doctors and health issues like
hypertension while some may avoid the care (Chasteen, et al, 2015) (Makris, et al, 2015).
To some extent, I have always thought that the aged people under carehave no family.
And those who have are not loved by them and that is why many are taken to the healthcare
facility to ease the burden to the family members. Most of them also cannot take care of
themselves, need assistance and are lonely with no visitors.

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