Ageist Attitudes Among Radiologic Science Professionals.

PURPOSE: To measure radiologic science professionals' current attitudes toward older adults. METHODS: The Geriatrics Attitude Scale (GAS) paper survey was distributed to radiology and radiation oncology personnel in a large, single teaching hospital system. The GAS provides a global measure of ageist attitudes using 14 questions and 4 subscales. Demographic information also was collected. RESULTS: The total sample (N = 74) comprised radiology and radiation oncology practitioners from rural and nonrural facilities in the health system. Of the 14 questions, 3 yielded significant differences between medical imaging and radiation therapy practitioners. There were no significant effects for gender, race, years of experience, or facility type. DISCUSSION: Although significant differences were found between medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals for some of the constructs, both groups had positive attitudes overall toward older adults as measured by the GAS and subscales. Interventions to disrupt ageism should be introduced to make positive shifts in attitudes. CONCLUSION: The United Nations has declared 2021 to 2030 the Decade of Healthy Ageing; people are challenged to change how they think, feel, and act toward aging and older adults. This pilot study provides a timely baseline for further research as older adults continue to challenge the U.S. health care system for the near future.

[Words and views on old age, or how ageism undermines the care relationship]. / Mots et regards sur la vieillesse, ou comment l'âgisme mine la relation de soins.

Anxiety about ageing, as well as old age, is rooted in public discourse and has a negative impact on the quality of the relationship with the elderly, particularly in the context of care relationships with more vulnerable seniors. This text proposes a theoretical and empirical reflection on ageism, manifested as much in its hostile as in its compassionate forms.

Senior nursing students' ageism and its associated factors: A national cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Ageism is prejudice or discrimination against different age groups, particularly older people. As senior nursing students in the last year of their studies prepare to enter the workforce, it is imperative to understand their level of ageism because of the high probability that they will care for older people during their nursing careers due to the global aging population. However, most research has focused on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding older adults, and few studies have specifically investigated ageism among senior nursing students. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand ageism among senior nursing students and associated factors. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: In total, 249 senior students from 16 four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs in Taiwan were recruited. Inclusion criteria were (1) a senior student enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and (2) the ability to read Chinese. METHODS: Data were collected using an online questionnaire consisting of two parts: demographic characteristics and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism. The frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze data. RESULTS: The average score for ageism among senior nursing students was 61.60 ± 7.73, out of a maximum of 116. Having a higher level of concern about ageism issues and having had grandparents who were primary caregivers during childhood were linked to a lower degree of ageism. The only predictor of senior nursing students' ageism was the extent of their concern about ageism issues (F = 18.47, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Senior nursing students demonstrated a moderate level of ageism. Faculty members should develop strategies to increase nursing students' awareness of ageism issues and develop appropriate interventions to prevent and improve their ageist attitudes.

[Comparative assessment of the intensity of caries among dental patients of older age groups in need of removable prosthetics, registered by a phthisiatician and their perception of an artificial ageist situation.]

Improving the quality of life of older age groups is an urgent problem of medicine, including its components: gerontology, phthisiology and dentistry. The objectives of the study are: to establish the importance of tuberculosis as an infection that causes the intensity of caries among patients of older age groups; assessment using the Palmore scale of gerontological ageism «The ageism survey¼ and patients' perception of an artificial situation of age inequality. The study involved elderly (n=122) and senile (n=121) persons with partial secondary adentia who needed removable dentures. The control groups of older people included patients who denied being under the supervision of a phthisiologist, and the study groups confirmed this. To solve the first problem, a comparative assessment of the values of the components of the CPI index in the control and study groups was carried out. To solve the second problem, an artificial situation of age inequality was simulated in the process of dental admission. The results of its effects were evaluated based on the response of patients to questions № 9, 10 of the Palmor scale. The absence of a difference in the values of K and N components between the control and study groups indicates the absence of a significant effect of mycobacteria on the development of caries. The large values of component Y in the studied groups may indicate the detrimental effect of mycobacteria on periodontal disease. The absence of an increase in the intensity and stability of the perception of age inequality among patients who are under the influence of an artificially created situation proves the great effectiveness of background age inequality. At the same time, it is impossible to exclude the low sensitivity of the Palmor scale in the process of diagnosing age inequality in Russian society.

Needs, Experiences, and Hopes for Aging Futures among Older Adults in the LGBTQ Communities: A Qualitative Study in Israel.

Older lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals tend to live alone, mostly without children and with scarce support from nuclear family members or biological kin. Moreover, traditional resources may not suit their specific end-of-life care needs. While studies have examined these topics in general, they lack focus on end-of-life needs, care, and planning in Israel. Moreover, research on this topic among members of LGBTQ communities is specifically lacking. This study, therefore, aimed at identifying and understanding the attitudes, perceptions, and meanings of older LGBTQ individuals in Israel regarding their needs and challenges, as they age and near end of life. The phenomenological qualitative research methodology was applied, following the interpretive approach. Twenty-one middle-aged and older LGBTQ individuals in Israel, aged ≥ 55, participated in the study. In-depth semi-structured interviews, conducted from November 2020 to April 2021, were audio-recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. Five themes emerged from the interviews: (1) Experiences of loneliness, marginalization, and trauma, and coping through liberation; (2) ageism and exclusion of older adults; (3) elastic and challenging relationships; (4) end of life as reverting into the closet and heteronormativity; and (5) death as a source of generativity and creativity. The study demonstrates that loneliness is an existential experience, exacerbated by the intersectionality of LGBTQ communities. In turn, chosen family members play a minimal role in the end-of-life care of their loved ones. While conveying ambivalence toward social services and housing for the aging, participants in this study expressed fear of being discriminated against and having to re-enter the closet as they age. Ageism and end of life do not represent finality and extinction, yet instead, signify hope and revival. Following Sandberg and Marshall's (2017) concept of queering aging futures, this study refines our understanding of life courses, demonstrating that living and thriving in old age could be positive and desirable. As such, ageism and end of life do not necessarily represent finality and extinction, and may instead signify hope and revival. The unique challenges associated with family and social support of older adults who are LGBTQ members, and their implications on care, deserve further research and are important for practice.

Cultural Differences in Daily Coupling of Subjective Views of Aging and Negative Affect.

OBJECTIVES: The established link between subjective views of aging (VoA) and well-being shows variations across different cultures. Although VoA show daily fluctuations, little is known about cultural differences in such fluctuations and the daily coupling of VoA and well-being. We compared Israeli Arabs to Israeli Jews in the daily coupling of VoA and negative affect (NA). METHODS: Community-dwelling older adults (N = 76, Mage = 66.71) completed measures of subjective age, subjective accelerated aging, ageist attitudes, and NA over 14 consecutive days. RESULTS: Respondents reported higher daily NA when they felt older, reported to be aging faster, or had more ageist attitudes. The daily coupling between subjective age/subjective accelerated aging and NA was stronger among Israeli Arabs compared to Israeli Jews. There was no such interaction with ageist attitudes. DISCUSSION: It is important to adopt a cultural perspective when investigating daily fluctuations in VoA and their correlates. In applied contexts, this might help to identify cultural groups that are particularly sensitive to the effects of VoA.

Psychometric properties of the Fraboni scale of ageism (FSA) applied to long-term caregivers in nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: The aging society has resulted in enormous demand for long-term care services. However, ageism is a common phenomenon in long-term care facilities, which not only hinders the quality of care for the recipients but also negatively influences caregivers' well-being. In this paper, we first applied the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) to evaluate its reliability and construct validity among Chinese long-term caregivers in nursing homes. This study could contribute to assessing the prevalence of ageism in Chinese long-term caregivers, prompting facilities and the government to recognize the issue of ageism and explore necessary interventions to reduce ageism in long-term caregivers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. We recruited 392 long-term caregivers using a convenience sampling strategy in nursing homes from two cities in Chinese central and northern regions. Parameters included the demographic characteristics, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, and intraclass correlation coefficient. The construct validity was conducted by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha of FSA (Chinese version) was 0.856 and ICC was 0.871. The factor analysis identified 3 principal factors, explaining 43.95% of the total variance. The 3-factor model was confirmed to fit by confirmatory factor analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings confirm that the FSA is easy to use and has good psychometric properties. This study will contribute to improving the condition of ageism, thereby improving the quality of care for the elderly and retention of professional talents in the LTC system.

Ageism and (Successful) Digital Engagement: A Proposed Theoretical Model.

Recently, scholars have highlighted the detrimental consequences of technology-based ageism. Digital technology (DT) is commonly discoursed as an opportunity to promote Successful Aging. Nevertheless, the theoretical implications of ageism, DT, and Successful Aging are underexplored. This paper presents a new theoretical model of Digital Engagement and Ageism (D-EngAge), which elaborates on the potential impacts of ageism on digital engagement and participation in later life and explains how ageism may pose a threat to realizing the potential of DT to promote Successful Aging. The D-EngAge model was developed based on a synthesis of findings from 12 recent studies we conducted on the intersection of ageism and DT. Findings were synthesized through Iversen's clasification of four dimensions of ageism, demonstrating how ageism as a multifaceted construct has a reciprocal relationship with digital engagement on the micro- (individual), meso- (social interaction), and macro-levels (discourses and societal practices). Consequently, digital engagement on these levels may exacerbate or reduce technology-based ageism. This forum paper identifies ageism as a barrier to utilizing DT, critically discusses power imbalances, and deconstructs Successful Aging discourses regarding digital engagement. Theoretical implications and recommendations for future interventions and policy measures to mitigate ageism and promote digital engagement and participation in later life are presented.

Factors Associated with Erectile Dysfunction Among Older Gay Men.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common issue that aging men encounter, but whether internalized gay ageism (i.e., the internalization of ageist messages within the context of aging as a gay man) is related to ED among older gay men is unknown. A cross-sectional web-based survey explored the relationship between internalized gay ageism, health-related and social factors, and ED among older gay men who resided in the Midwest United States (N = 181). Internalized gay ageism was not significantly associated with ED. However, hierarchical regression analysis found that age (ß = .224, t = 2.70, p = .008) and overall health (ß = -.247, t = -3.05, p = .003) were significantly associated with ED among older gay men, suggesting that older gay men share similar risk factors for ED as the general male population. Future research should continue to explore other factors that are unique to gay men that may be associated with ED.

Ageism and lookism as stereotypes of health disparity in intensive care units in Iran: a critical ethnography.

BACKGROUND: The intensive care unit presents structural complexities, and the prevailing power imbalance between patients and staff can lead to health disparities. Hence, unveiling the underlying factors that give rise to and reinforce these disparities can contribute to their prevention. This study aims to shed light on the stereotypes linked to ageism and lookism, which perpetuate health disparities within the intensive care unit setting in Iran. METHODS: This critical ethnographic study employed Carsepkan's approach and was carried out in intensive care units in the west of Iran from 2022 to 2023. The data collection and analysis were conducted through three interconnected stages. In the initial stage, more than 300 h of observations were made at the research site. In the subsequent stage, a horizon analysis was performed. Conversations with 14 informants were conducted in the final stage to enrich the dataset further. Then the analysis process was carried out as in the previous step to uncover an implicit culture of health disparity. To verify the validity and reliability of the study, credibility, conformability, dependability, and transferability were all taken into account. FINDINGS: The ageism and lookism stereotypes emerged from seven main themes; youth-centric; negative ageism; age-friendliness; age-related priority; centered care for pediatric patients and families; appearance-centeredness; and a contradiction between belief and behavior. CONCLUSION: This critical study showed that ageism and lookism stereotypes permeated the intensive care unit's culture. These stereotypes have the potential to influence equality dynamics, as well as to foster and support health disparity in the intensive care unit.

Fairer AI in ophthalmology via implicit fairness learning for mitigating sexism and ageism.

The transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in various fields highlights the need for it to be both accurate and fair. Biased medical AI systems pose significant potential risks to achieving fair and equitable healthcare. Here, we show an implicit fairness learning approach to build a fairer ophthalmology AI (called FairerOPTH) that mitigates sex (biological attribute) and age biases in AI diagnosis of eye diseases. Specifically, FairerOPTH incorporates the causal relationship between fundus features and eye diseases, which is relatively independent of sensitive attributes such as race, sex, and age. We demonstrate on a large and diverse collected dataset that FairerOPTH significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches in terms of diagnostic accuracy and fairness for 38 eye diseases in ultra-widefield imaging and 16 eye diseases in narrow-angle imaging. This work demonstrates the significant potential of implicit fairness learning in promoting equitable treatment for patients regardless of their sex or age.

Carving and making space through dance - Older people using dance to experience their ageing body and challenge ageist discourse.

Drawing on qualitative data from a study of older adults' participation in a contemporary dance group, this paper asks what can be gained from new materialist concepts of the older body, and how they can expand cultural gerontological thinking about embodiment. This paper examines the connections between the older body, movement, thoughts, words and spaces, arguing that dance demonstrates that there is a spatial dimension to embodiment. In drawing from models of materiality emerging in gerontology, this paper provides insights about the experience of age, questioning fundamental categorizations promoted in Western culture, and re-thinks agency in relation to the body and space. Emphasising the importance of the material world in the production of the social has important implications in terms of understanding the experience of ageing within an ageist society.

Representation of older adults in Turkish newspaper reports during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research investigates the representation of older adults in Turkish newspaper reports during the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey in order to understand the representation and reinforcement of ageism in this context. To this end, fifty newspaper reports from five top-selling Turkish newspapers at the time were selected randomly and analysed using critical discourse analysis for the text producers' linguistic choices in the representations of older adults. The findings show that the older adults were represented predominantly in relation to the lockdown measures and as members of a homogeneous group. They were mainly evaluated negatively as a vulnerable, passive, and at risk group who lacked truthfulness and exhibited unusual behaviour. They were also found to be not among the intended readers of the newspaper reports. This resulted in the infantilisation of older adults and the removal of their agency. Our findings point to the linguistic choices realising these discursive practices in the Turkish context. We argue that these findings follow a trend of representation of older adults in discursive practices and that these practices are instrumental in forming ageist stereotypes and reinforcing age-related bias.

Hattie and Sammler: Saul Bellow's older woman and older man.

Hattie in Saul Bellow's "Leaving the Yellow House" and Sammler in Bellow's Mr. Sammler's Planet are both elderly characters. This article intends to compare the two characters from a gender perspective, to illustrate how these characters appear to experience and respond to old age and how other characters in these two fictions respond to the old age of their respective elderly characters. The comparison of these two characters in the fiction of Saul Bellow gives rise to the observation that old age is not merely a phase of negative changes but also of positive ones; ageism claims victims among both men and women whose suffering is aggravated by other kinds of injustice, such as racism and sexism.

Ageism and the digital divide in Switzerland during COVID-19: Lessons for the post-pandemic world.

The COVID-19 pandemic erupted in early 2020. The Swiss Federal Council implemented a semi-lockdown in March 2020, asking people, particularly older adults, to stay at home to limit the transmission of the disease and to use digital tools to maintain their social relations and activities. This study inquired how older adults confronting precarity experienced these restrictions, how digital tools functioned in this context, and what learning could therefore be imbibed for the post-pandemic era. We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with adults aged between 66 and 90 years living in a rural and mountainous Swiss region. The obtained data were subsequently thematically analyzed. The results revealed that the respondents experienced ageism during the semi-lockdown and reported limited or non-existent opportunities to use digital tools to maintain online social contact. This predicament increased their sense of loneliness and amplified their feelings of rejection by the outside world. These observations elucidate the need for the enhancement of non-ageist social support for older people, including individuals with limited social and material resources. We advocate the adoption of innovative initiatives in the post-pandemic era to better include precarious older people in our localities and neighborhoods.

Americans harbor much less favorable explicit sentiments toward young adults than toward older adults.

Public and academic discourse on ageism focuses primarily on prejudices targeting older adults, implicitly assuming that this age group experiences the most age bias. We test this assumption in a large, preregistered study surveying Americans' explicit sentiments toward young, middle-aged, and older adults. Contrary to certain expectations about the scope and nature of ageism, responses from two crowdsourced online samples matched to the US adult population (N = 1,820) revealed that older adults garner the most favorable sentiments and young adults, the least favorable ones. This pattern held across a wide range of participant demographics and outcome variables, in both samples. Signaling derogation of young adults more than benign liking of older adults, participants high on SDO (i.e., a key antecedent of group prejudice) expressed even less favorable sentiments toward young adults-and more favorable ones toward older adults. In two follow-up, preregistered, forecasting surveys, lay participants (N = 500) were generally quite accurate at predicting these results; in contrast, social scientists (N = 241) underestimated how unfavorably respondents viewed young adults and how favorably they viewed older adults. In fact, the more expertise in ageism scientists had, the more biased their forecasts. In a rapidly aging world with exacerbated concerns over older adults' welfare, young adults also face increasing economic, social, political, and ecological hardship. Our findings highlight the need for policymakers and social scientists to broaden their understanding of age biases and develop theory and policies that ponder discriminations targeting all age groups.

"A little love is enough for me to live my life ": Precarity and resilience among older sex workers in India.

Most research on sex workers globally has focused on cis women sex workers vulnerabilities including violence, risk for HIV/AIDS, and stigma. Despite the plethora of studies on the topic, older sex workers are significantly underrepresented in research. We used a phenomenological approach to highlight street and home-based sex workers' experiences. Using a purposive sampling strategy, 39 cis women sex workers were recruited from Karnataka, India and data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Findings revealed a range of changes in sex workers' lives as they aged, financial instability, lack of alternate livelihood options, and limited access to governmental benefits and social security. Participant narratives challenged the notion of anticipated traditional familial support especially from their grown children. Findings were replete with instances of sex workers' personal agency to confront personal and professional challenges. Peer networks formed the biggest forms of support as were sex workers' connections with local community-based groups. There is an urgent need for helping professionals to recognize the ongoing marginalization faced by older sex workers. It is critical to address concerns broadly along with inequities in terms of access and power as experienced by older sex workers. Finally, examining the differential impact of ageism, structural barriers including neglect by the State, violence, and stigma that follow sex workers is vital.

Age-based stereotype threat in the workplace: A daily diary study of antecedents and mechanisms.

Both older and younger employees are stereotyped at work, making them susceptible to age-based stereotype threat or the concern about being negatively stereotyped based on their age. To date, there is limited understanding of the workplace events that spark age-based stereotype threat and the mechanisms through which they do so. The current daily diary study aimed to assess the frequency with which older and younger employees experience various events that have been identified as potential antecedents of age-based stereotype threat (e.g., being overlooked for training or development opportunities, feeling excluded from informal socializing) as well as their association with experiences of stereotype threat. As predicted, we found that employees who reported more frequent experiences of these events subsequently reported greater feelings of stereotype threat. This association was partially mediated by the capacity of these events to increase the salience of a participant's age. There was also evidence of reciprocal association, whereby employees who felt more stereotype threat were also more likely to subsequently report experiencing these events. Employee age did not moderate the relationship between daily feelings of stereotype threat and daily outcomes, suggesting that everyday feelings of stereotype threat may be equally problematic for both older and younger employees. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The shifts in intergenerational relations in Cameroon and their potential impact on the health of older adults.

INTRODUCTION: Africa is experiencing a gradual demographic shift due to rising life expectancy and increasing urbanisation. In sub-Saharan Africa, elderly individuals typically reside with their children. The rise in life expectancy by almost a decade and the prevalence of precarious living conditions raise concerns about the sustainability of the healthcare system, which has traditionally relied on intergenerational solidarity. METHODS: The research aims to analyse the evolving role of older adults in Cameroonian society and to examine the potential impact of this change on intergenerational relationships and the health of older adults. A qualitative methodology was employed, using intergenerational focus groups in Cameroon. RESULTS: Traditionally, older adults held a central role in knowledge transmission through discourse. However, the modernisation of society is challenging this position.The emergence of new technologies, particularly communication tools, is leading to a questioning of older adults' experiential knowledge. Societal changes are contributing to a decline in respect for older adults in discourse. Older adults deplore these societal changes and fear for their place in society while young people are questioning the central role of older people in society. DISCUSSION: These changes could reduce the sense of usefulness of older people, with negative consequences for their health. Several studies have highlighted the impacts of ageism on the health of older adults in industrialised countries. However, there are little data on the impact of the marginalisation of older adults on their health in industrialising societies. Further research is needed to study the impact on the health of older adults.