Ageism Awareness and Action
What is Ageism?
Ageism refers to how we think (stereotypes), feel (prejudice) and act (discrimination) towards others or ourselves based on age.
- Half of all people worldwide are ageist against older people.
- Ageism affects us throughout life and exists in our institutions, our relationships and ourselves.
- Ageism intersects and exacerbates other forms of disadvantage including those related to sex, race and disability.
Why Does Ageism Matter?
Ageism harms our economic security, physical and mental health, and memory, and shortens our life span. It also has significant costs for our health care system, and our economy overall.
What is Ageism Awareness Day?
Oct. 9 is Ageism Awareness Day, a day to focus on what ageism is and highlight its impact. Ageism negatively affects each of us, our communities and society.
What Can I Do to Help?
There are many ways to learn more about ageism and to increase awareness of ageism among others.
- DOWNLOAD the City of St. Albert’s Ageism Awareness and Action Toolkit
- TAKE the Implicit Association Test on the Harvard University website to learn about your own implicit biases, which are biases we have that we may not be aware of.
- READ The United Nations and World Health Organization’s Global Report on Ageism, a comprehensive report that summarizes the research on ageism around the world and outlines effective strategies.
- READ the Government of Canada’s report on Consultations on the Social and Economic Impacts of Ageism in Canada.
- PARTICIPATE in the Intergenerational Quilting Project
Related Pages
Last edited: November 8, 2024