HJNO May/Jun 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAY / JUN 2021 51 Carrie A. Mercer Senior Director of Marketing Lambeth House surrounding you. And the worst is when you begin to fear someone might question your ability to do something based on age.” One of the most notable areas where ageism is experienced is in healthcare. As Gates described, “I really don’t mind when providers tell me it’s an age-related condi- tion, however, it’s troublesome when we begin to discuss treatment options. Far too often older adults are told, we can’t do that because of your age instead of, we could do that despite your age. We want provid- ers to understand that not all 80-year-olds are the same.” Jennifer Credeur, LCSW and Director of Social Services at Lambeth House, a senior living community in New Orleans, says, “We work very hard to avoid ageism at Lambeth House by maintaining people’s independence as long as possible. We assess everyone independently and never assume because someone is ageing that they should be treated differently or that decisions be made solely based on their age.” Like Gates, Credeur also advises older adults, when seeking medical care, to find providers that will give them all their op- tions when it comes to treatment and not make assumptions based on age. Acknowledging that ageism exists is a good start, however, it is only half the battle. What can we do about it? Unfortu- nately, there are no established interven- tions to date that are known to entirely erase the negative stereotypes of ageism. But organizations such as theWorld Health Organization (WHO) have started initia- tives to understand and address the is- sue. They will focus on three main areas of study: educational interventions that provide instruction of some kind designed to reduce ageism, intergenerational contact interventions that feature an opportunity for contact between younger people and older people, and combined interventions that pair the two approaches. As Butler also suggested, “Another major intervention against ageism would be to mobilize the productive capabilities and contributions of older people.” If we di- agnose the social disease of ageism cor- rectly and examine its current context and manifestations, our next question must be, “What is the treatment?”We must begin by systematically analyzing the many myths and distortions about aging. Too much is attributed to age that is actually due to dis- ease, disability, social adversity, personality, educational level, alcoholism, lifestyle or the environment. n “Not only are negative stereotypes hurtful to older people, but they may even shorten their lives, finds psychologist Becca Levy, PhD, assistant professor of public health at Yale University. On the other hand, people’s positive beliefs about and attitudes toward the older adult appear to boost their mental health.”