Ageism is the interpersonal and systemic prejudice against older people. Everyday ageism are the microaggressions experienced by persons 50+ in messaging, interactions, how a room is designed, how a website is designed, “putting seniors in facilities,” and we would argue most walkers.
In a talk “Hidden Bias of Good People” led by Dr. Bryant T. Marks, Sr. in 2021, the chief diversity officer reveals older people have the most negative biases associated with them.
In a survey by U of M Healthy Aging Poll, they found 36% of older persons have internalized the ageist messages heard by family, friends, and the media.
Even how our society structured covid vaccination opportunities, how aging institutions say older people can’t use tech, and how little society pays or reimburses older adult services, ALL say something about our biases.
What does it have to do with your organization? Systemic ageism likely negatively impacts your organization’s access to funding, access to trained professionals, the wages and benefits you can pay them, and honestly your own implicit bias can truncate progress.
Learn more about how we are combating it.
In the aging sector, we are well aware of the number of issues facing older people. Mental health, substance use, physical health, dementia, caregiving, finances, transportation, nutrition, racial issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, insurance, end of life planning, and the list goes on (and can feel really overwhelming).
So let’s meet some of the solutions!
Our outreach team meets entrepreneurs every week that are addressing aging issues with their skill set:
Organization development specialists have known that community-based services, especially small non-profits, have struggled to strategically leverage digital tools and solutions–including websites.
But have you caught yourself thinking:
“We don’t need to do that, our seniors don’t know how to use technology.”
Or maybe, “we are not investing in that because our seniors aren’t interested.“
Most of our clients, even in the aging sector, have been guilty of these thoughts.
But it’s not true. You’ve actually fallen into a digital ageism trap.
We are missing out a huge opportunity to connect with and impact clients in a boarder way.
During Covid-19, we noted at an alarming rate the number of agencies commenting on the lack of digital literacy their older people have and at the same time failing to strategically integrate digital spaces into their long term plans.
We’ve created a few routes for you. Click the green button to learn more.
Persons on this track service are able to participate in our once monthly workshop on aging issues and our once monthly speaker. Our KovirAge team will prepare some points and questions for these round table styled workshops – see examples on our events listed below. Each workshop will have a focus and we encourage you to bring your documentation and questions. We’ll provide input for no additional cost!
*If your organization needs a larger corporate plan, please click here to view our subscription plan overview page.
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