Group 2: Social

Attitudes Towards
Aging
Benito Rumbo
Social Attitudes ● Aging and Bias Towards

Towards Aging Elderly Patients

● Social Attitudes Towards

in Healthcare Healthcare Workers

● Observing Attitudes of
Healthcare Worker Towards
Elderly People Using the Kogan
Scale
● The Need for Rapid Change
 Aging and Bias Towards Elderly Patients
● Ageism and stereotypes; leads healthcare workers to be

dismissive and irritated with elderly patients

● This can cause harm to their healthcare

● Patient Barbara’s story

● WHO, 60% of respondents in the "World Values Survey"

reported that older people are not respected.

Curren,C., Belknap, L., McDougle, L. (2013). Perspectives on Bias In Medicine. [ebook] The Ohio State University. Retrieved from
https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/curren1/chapter/7-2-identifying-age-bias-in-medicine/

World Health Organization (WHO). (2016, September 26). Discrimination and negative attitudes about ageing are bad for your health. Retrieved from:
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-09-2016-discrimination-and-negative-attitudes-about-ageing-are-bad-for-your-health.
 Social Attitudes Towards Elderly Healthcare
Workers
● Bias within the workplace between young
healthcare workers and older workers
● Relevance of older medical school professors or
physicians may be questioned by learners who
define medical care and competence more
narrowly
● However, the experience of older physicians,
teachers, and other healthcare workers is
Curren,C., Belknap, L., McDougle, L. (2013). Perspectives on Bias In
valuable to the younger workers, and that some
Medicine. [ebook] The Ohio State University. Retrieved from
younger students and workers prefer to obtain https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/curren1/chapter/7-2-identifying-age-bias-in-
knowledge from their older colleagues medicine/
 https://youtu.be/-0NH8CFxgnM

Video of Interprofessional Perceptions of Older

Doctors by Dr. Pat Eckler and Dr. Laurie Belknap
 Observing Attitudes of Healthcare Workers
Towards Elderly People Using the Kogan
Scale
● Results of a survey aimed to identify and evaluate
the attitudes of nurses, healthcare assistants, and
nursing students towards older people
● Study displayed that the vast majority of the
participants which included nurses, nursing
assistants, and students hold positive attitudes
towards older people.
● The study also showed that higher levels at
university appears to mitigate towards holding
more positive attitudes

Doherty, M., Mitchell, E., O'Neill, S. (2011). Attitudes of Healthcare Workers towards Older People in a Rural Population: A Survey
Using the Kogan Scale. Hindawi Nursing Research and Practice. Retrieved from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/2011/352627/
The Need for Rapid Change

● Almost half – 46% in 2017 – of all people who die from cancer
are 70 or older. Another 41 percent are between 50 and 69
years old – so that 87% of all cancer victims are older than 50
years.
● Study conducted throughout numerous oncology clinics and
healthcare locations, the Kogan scale displayed negative
results.
● It is shown that the natural process of ageing is regarded as a
social problem,

Kearney, N., Miller, M., Paul, J., Smith, K. (2000). Oncology healthcare professionals' attitudes toward elderly people. Kluwer Academic.
Retrieved from https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(19)55066-9/pdf

Roser, M., Ritchie, H. (2015). Cancer. OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/cancer#citation

 Resources
Curren,C., Belknap, L., McDougle, L. (2013). Perspectives on Bias In Medicine. [ebook] The Ohio State University. Retrieved from
https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/curren1/chapter/7-2-identifying-age-bias-in-medicine/

World Health Organization (WHO). (2016, September 26). Discrimination and negative attitudes about ageing are bad for your health.
Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-09-2016-discrimination-and-negative-attitudes-about-ageing-are-bad-for-your-health.

Doherty, M., Mitchell, E., O'Neill, S. (2011). Attitudes of Healthcare Workers towards Older People in a Rural Population: A Survey Using the
Kogan Scale. Hindawi Nursing Research and Practice. Retrieved from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/2011/352627/

Gholamzadeh, S., Khastavaneh, M., Khademian, Z., Ghadakpour, S. (2018). The effects of empathy skills training on nursing stu dents’
empathy and attitudes toward elderly people. BMC Medical Education. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12909-
018-1297-9

Kearney, N., Miller, M., Paul, J., Smith, K. (2000). Oncology healthcare professionals' attitudes toward elderly people. Kluwer Academic.
Retrieved from https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(19)55066-9/pdf

Roser, M., Ritchie, H. (2015). Cancer. OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/cancer#citation

 Ageism and General Attitudes toward
Growing Old and the Elderly
● Social Prejudice
● Youth
● Major social institutions

Berger, R. (2017). Aging in America: Ageism and General Attitudes toward Growing Old and the Elderly.
California State University, Northridge, USA. https://www.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2017081414465032.pdf.
Ageism and General Attitudes toward
Growing Old and the Elderly
● The mass media portrays old age as
helpless

● Often times the media represent older

people as isolated or dependent

● These representation by the media can

cause older people to reduce their social
interaction with others

● Ageism in America can have an negative

impact to the older generation by
misrepresentation of their capabilities
Berger, R. (2017). Aging in America: Ageism and General Attitudes toward Growing Old and the Elderly.
California State University, Northridge, USA. https://www.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2017081414465032.pdf.
● Common feelings toward the elderly
are that they are of low status and
incompetent and this is a common
theme running across media
representations

● The elderly are often depicted as weak,

unattractive, and senile
● Plastic surgery for both men and
women is at an all-time high
Berger, R. (2017). Aging in America: Ageism and General Attitudes toward Growing Old and the
Elderly. California State University, Northridge, USA.
https://www.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2017081414465032.pdf.
 ● Survey examining people's attitudes
and feelings about the elderly and
about growing old
● 154 surveyors age 18- 70
● Attitudes and feelings about the
elderly and about growing old
● Materialism and Individualism

Berger, R. (2017). Aging in America: Ageism and General Attitudes toward Growing Old and the Elderly.
California State University, Northridge, USA. https://www.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2017081414465032.pdf.
 How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of
Older Koreans
● Tradition in Korea

● Ageism in Korea

● Unpleasant experience

H, Chun., Kim, I. (2015). How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of Older
Koreans?. International Journal of Epidemiology. Retrieved from:
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/44/suppl_1/i245/2573467
 How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of
Older Koreans cont

“The Ageism Survey”

● 638 surveyors, aged 60-89

● Identified different classifications of
ageism

Four Factors

● Ignorance
● Stereotype
● Employment
● Healthcare
H, Chun., Kim, I. (2015). How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of Older Koreans?. International
Journal of Epidemiology. Retrieved from:
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/44/suppl_1/i245/2573467
 How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of
Older Koreans Continued…

● Three types— ignorance, stereotype, and

health care —were all positively related
to depressive symptoms.
● Only employment-related ageism
increased the risk of developing
hypertension
● Healthcare Related ageism was
significantly associated with poor self-
rated health.
● H, Chun., Kim, I. (2015). How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of Older Koreans?.
International Journal of Epidemiology. Retrieved from:
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/44/suppl_1/i245/2573467
 Resources
Berger, R. (2017). Aging in America: Ageism and General Attitudes toward Growing Old and the
Elderly. California State University, Northridge, USA. Retrieved from
https://www.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2017081414465032.pdf.

H, Chun., Kim, I. (2015). How Types of Ageism Affect the Health of Older Koreans?. International
Journal of Epidemiology. Retrieved from: https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/44/suppl_1/i245/2573467
 Social Attitude Towards Aging: How it
Affects Health
● Attitude towards one's own aging affects their
quality of life and health during old Age

● Positive attitude

● Negative attitude

Bryant, C., Bei, B., Gilson, K., Komiti, A., Jackson, H., Judd,F. (2012). The relationship
between attitudes to aging and physical and mental health in older adults. International
Psychogeriatrics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647646
Social Attitude Towards Aging: How it
Affects Health
“The Satisfaction with Life Scale”

● 412 surveyors, aged 60 and over

● Identify what positive attitudes towards
aging were associated with

Results

● higher levels of satisfaction with life

● better self report
● better physical and mental health
● lower levels of anxiety and depression.

Bryant, C., Bei, B., Gilson, K., Komiti, A., Jackson, H., Judd,F. (2012).
The relationship between attitudes to aging and physical and
mental health in older adults. International Psychogeriatrics.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647646
Social Attitude Towards Aging: How it
Affects Health

“ The Attitudes Towards Aging Questionnaire”

● 4,539 Surveyors aged 74 and older

● Identify what positive and negative
attitudes towards aging were associated
with

Results of Positive Attitudes

● Reduce anticipation of physical and social

loss
● Decreased negativity towards the future
and physical change
Low, G., Molzahn, A., Schopflocher, D. (2013). Attitudes to aging mediate the relationship between older peoples’ subjective health and quality of
life in 20 countries. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7525-11-146
Social Attitudes Towards Aging: How it
affects Health

“The Attitudes Towards Aging Questionnaire”

Continued…

Results of Negative Attitudes

● Decreased cognitive ability

● Lowered levels of self efficacy
● Decreased productivity
● No sense of purpose

Low, G., Molzahn, A., Schopflocher, D. (2013). Attitudes to aging mediate the relationship
between older people's’ subjective health and quality of life in 20 countries. Health and Quality of
Life Outcomes. https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7525-11-146
Resources

Low, G., Molzahn, A., Schopflocher, D. (2013). Attitudes to aging mediate the relationship between older
peoples’ subjective health and quality of life in 20 countries. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.
https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7525-11-146

Bryant, C., Bei, B., Gilson, K., Komiti, A., Jackson, H., Judd,F. (2012). The relationship between attitudes
to aging and physical and mental health in older adults. International Psychogeriatrics.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647646
Social Attitudes in the workplace

● Prejudice/discrimination in the workplace

● Stereotypes of elders in the workplace

● Work environment and ageism

 Discrimination in the workplace
● Around 24% of older Europeans suffered from discrimination due to their age in
the workplace.
● Soft discrimination is based on stereotypes which are very common.
● Soft discrimination toward older people have effect of lower their expectations of
an employer.
● Certain areas of work like information technology (IT), the banking sector, the
catering trade or the hotel industry showed more discrimination than production,
craft and traditional services.
 Stereotypes
● Older workers are often viewed as less trainable, flexible, and
efficient, and lacking necessary physical capabilities and
technological proficiency.
● Older workers will internalize these stereotypes and leading to
them lower their self confidence and affecting the desire to find
new employment.
● Stereotypes are also found to have an affect on self-efficacy and
the overall feeling about the work they are capable of completing.
 Ageism

● Youtube video about how ageism as harmful

effects: https://youtu.be/dnp3T4Yzaws
● Ageism is defined as prejudice or
discrimination on the grounds of a person's
age
● There is the Age Discrimination in Employment
Act of 1967 however many companies do find
a loophole around this.
 Resources

● Chiesa, R., Zaniboni, S., Guglielmi, D., Vignoli, M. (2019). Coping With Negative Stereotypes Toward Older Workers:
Organizational and Work-Related Outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00649/full
● Harris, K., Krygsman, S., Waschenko, J., Lalibete, D. (2018). Ageism and the Older Worker: A Scoping Review. The
Gerontologist. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28082278
● Stypinska, J., Turek, K. (2017). Hard and soft age discrimination: the dual nature of workplace discrimination. European
Journal of Ageing. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10433-016-0407-y
● HuffPost. (2018, April 24). The Harmful Effects of Ageism. [video] YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/dnp3T4Yzaws