Aging and Ageism

Last year, I published a paper investigating ageism in US and Canadian samples, aged 40-72 years [1]. Results revealed two interesting (yet troubling) results. First, Ageism Survey scores increased as scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF) increased for both samples. That is, those experiencing an ageism event once or more than once reported greater GDS-SF scores. Second, this association was more pronounced in women as compared to men. In an era were individuals are living longer and more is known about diagnosing and dealing with many diseases associated with age (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease), one wonders why the ravages of ageism are still present and still rampant in our society. The numbers of older adults older than 85 and older than 100 are rapidly on the rise, although ageism can occur at any age. A more critical question is what can be done to curb and reduce ageism?