It’s Time to Retire Ageism against Older Workers

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
Raza M. Mirza ◽  
Lynn Mcdonald ◽  
Laura Tamblyn-Watts

Ageism in the workplace can have significant implications for older adults. While every individual should feel equal and have the right to employment free from discrimination due to age, many practices and policies do not appear to uphold this right in the labour market. Institutional practices and policies seem to perpetuate stereotypes about older people. A “pro-aging” campaign to raise awareness about ageism in the workplace was run in the City of Toronto in 2019. The campaign included posters and pop-up advertising of a fake aging cream and research on attitudes toward aging and understanding the “too old” narrative as part of inclusive workplace policies. Workplace diversity policies often do not include age considerations, and understanding the factors that lead to ageism may allow for the development of strategies to help combat it. Age-diverse workplaces may gain competitive advantage by learning to harness the power of intergenerational relationships.

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavinia Mitton ◽  
Cathy Hull

This article reviews the research on Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) services for older workers in England. It sets out the arguments for targeting IAG services at older people in the context of extended working lives. It reviews the evidence on how to provide services which meet the specific needs of older workers, whilst recognising the diversity of the 50+ age group, and provides a case study of an age-sensitive IAG project. It concludes that demand for IAG from older workers needs to be stimulated and that the role of IAG in helping older adults to work and learn deserves greater recognition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 707-708
Author(s):  
Sarah Canham ◽  
Joe Humphries

Abstract Newly and chronically homeless older adults have unique pathways into homelessness and distinct physical, mental, and social needs. Using a five-step process, we conducted a scoping review of primary research to investigate the needs and solutions for sheltering/housing older people experiencing homelessness (OPEH). Thematic analysis of data from 19 sources revealed 1) shelter/housing needs and challenges of newly vs. chronically homeless older adults; 2) existing shelter/housing solutions addressing the needs of OPEH, including Housing First, permanent supportive housing, and multiservice homelessness intervention programs; and 3) outcomes of rehousing OPEH. Following, we developed a conceptual model which outlines how unique health and psychosocial needs of newly and chronically homeless older adults can be met through appropriately-designed shelter/housing solutions with individualized levels of senior-specific support. Future shelter/housing initiatives and strategies should use a rights-based approach and prioritize matching diverse OPEH needs to appropriate shelter/housing options that will support their ability to age-in-the-right-place. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Environmental Gerontology Interest Group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 443-443
Author(s):  
Lisa Hollis-Sawyer

Abstract This paper examines the implications of employers' current COVID-19 protective workplace attendance policies toward older workers, potentially creating the outcomes of increased numbers of involuntary retirees and the discouraged older worker syndrome among otherwise qualified older workforce participants. How potential ageist assumptions and age discrimination under COVID-19 affect workplace decisions in reflection on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) guidelines is discussed. Older workers may remain in the workforce longer than ever before due to having healthier life expectancies. Workplace policies need to be increasingly sensitive to older employees’ rights to sustain their workplace engagement (Cummins, 2014; Cummins, Harootyan, & Kunkel, 2015). The author reviewed current unemployment trends in 2020 and emerging litigation in reflection upon general issues of COVID-19 related age discrimination in the older workers' workplace attendance decisions by employers and the historical framework of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967, with significant amendments in 1978 and 1986). The policy analysis paper presents the implications of employers' COVID-19 protective policies on older workers and how it may affect the “health” of the workplace and older adults and the economy beyond the pandemic. Lastly, strategies to address an "age-friendly" workplace during a pandemic and post-pandemic are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Mayara Kerly Coelho Ponte ◽  
Roberto Cleber Silva de Oliveira ◽  
Raimunda Hermelinda Maia Macena ◽  
Vasco Pinheiro Diógenes Bastos ◽  
Thiago Brasileiro de Vasconcelos

Introdução: O envelhecimento é definido como um processo multidimensional, e este processo de envelhecimento, salvo ocorrências abreviadoras, são inevitáveis e inerentes a todos. A atividade física é o fator que prediz de forma mais consistente um envelhecimento saudável e qualidade de vida. Objetivo: Verificar o possível benefício das atividades físicas desenvolvidas por uma equipe multidisciplinar em um grupo de idosos. Métodos: Estudo qualitativo, transversal e descritivo, no qual foram acessados múltiplos casos em campo. Realizado através de entrevistas com idosos participantes de um grupo de caminhada. Para análise dos dados foi utilizado análise de conteúdo. Resultados: A análise de depoimentos dos idosos foi dividida em quatro questionamentos: Mudanças após o inicio no grupo – “melhora dos aspectos físico, social e mental”, Quais foram as mudanças - “diminuição das dores, câimbras e aumento do bem estar”, Qual atividade que mais gosta - “o alongamento e a dança, com alegria em mexer o corpo todo” e Como se sente após a atividade - “maior disposição e diminuição da sensação de cansaço”. Conclusão: Evidenciou-se que a prática de atividade física proporciona uma melhor qualidade de vida e bem estar geral. Observou-se também que os idosos tornaram-se mais eficazes e produtivos. OLDER ADULT HEALTH: PREVENTIVE APPROACH IN A WALKING GROUP ABSTRACT Ageing is defined as a multidimensional process and, this ageing process, except abridged occurrences, is inevitable and inherent to all people. Physical activity is a very important factor to a healthy ageing and to quality of life. This study aimed at verifying the possible benefits of physical activities developed by a multidisciplinary team in the perception of a group of older people. It is a qualitative, transversal and descriptive study, in which many cases were accessed. It was carried out through interviews with older adults who participate in a walking group. Content analysis was used for data analysis. For the present study, 10 older adults (2 men and 8 women) were evaluated; they participate in a walking group in the city of Sobral/CE. According to their opinion, regular physical activity designated to older population contributes to the improvement of health conditions in many aspects as physical, social and mental, according to the following statements: “improvement of physical, social and mental aspects”, “decreased pain and cramps and increased well-being”, "Stretching and dancing, with joy in moving the whole body" and "more disposition and decrease of the sensation of fatigue". It is evident that the practice of physical activity affords a better quality of life and well-being. It is also observed that the older people became more efficient and productive according to their own perception.


Author(s):  
Jagriti Gangopadhyay

AbstractNumerous studies have examined the experience of growing old in a transnational context among Indians. However, in most of these studies, the older adults had immigrated as senior citizens to be with their adult children. Indians who have grown old in transnational settings have not been examined in detail in the gerontological scholarship. Adopting a cross-cultural lens, the present study focusses on perceptions of ageing among older Indians who have grown old in the city of Saskatoon. The study demonstrates how these older Indians refute the Successful Ageing model and accept their physical weaknesses in their course of ageing. Additionally, the study also examines how caregiving arrangements and intergenerational relationships are shaped among these older Indians and their adult children, in a transnational city, such as Saskatoon. Finally, the study highlights how later life gender roles are constructed in a transnational backdrop.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 707-707
Author(s):  
Sarah Canham ◽  
Mineko Wada ◽  
Stephen Golant

Abstract Amidst rising costs of housing and changing personal needs, considerations of the availability of appropriate and accessible housing are becoming increasingly salient for older adults. While it has been widely acknowledged that older adults would prefer to age-in-place, recent reframing of this trend promotes the ideal as aging-in-the-right-place. This symposium will provide an updated understanding of how to support older adults’ ability to age-in-the-right-place, regardless of income or physical, mental, or social status. Presenters include international and interdisciplinary researchers representing perspectives from gerontology, social work, community planning, and health sciences. The symposium will begin with Wada examining resilience scholarship, with a focus on older people who are experiencing homelessness, which has been largely neglected. In the next presentation, Humphries will outline distinct, senior-specific needs and shelter/housing solutions for newly and chronically homeless older adults. Following, Canham will describe promising practices of shelter/housing to support aging-in-the-right-place for older people experiencing homelessness in Montréal, Calgary, and Vancouver identified through an environmental scan. Extending these efforts to an international scale, Mahmood will outline findings from a scoping review of supportive shelter/housing options, supports, and interventions. A final presentation will report on how community development practices implemented by a not-for-profit affordable housing provider promote older tenants’ food security and social support needs. Stephen Golant, a leading expert on housing, geography, and long-term needs on older adults, will discuss implications of these studies for policy and practice for supporting housing insecure older adults while advancing scholarship on aging-in-the-right-place for this marginalized population. Environmental Gerontology Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  

This paper examines the implications of employers’ current COVID-19 protective workplace attendance policies toward older workers, potentially creating the outcomes of increased numbers of involuntary retirees and the discouraged older worker syndrome among otherwise qualified older workforce participants. How potential ageist assumptions and age discrimination under COVID-19 affect workplace decisions in reflection on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) guidelines is discussed. Older workers may remain in the workforce longer than ever before due to having extended life expectancies. Workplace policies need to be increasingly sensitive to older employees’ rights to sustain their workplace engagement (Cummins, 2014; Cummins, Harootyan, & Kunkel, 2015). The author reviewed current unemployment trends in 2020 and emerging litigation in reflection upon general issues of COVID-19 related age discrimination. Specifically, older workers’ workplace attendance decisions by employers were analyzed within the historical framework of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967 significant amendments in 1978 and 1986). The policy analysis paper presents the implications of employers’ COVID-19 protective policies on older workers and how it may affect the “health” of the workplace and older adults and the economy beyond the pandemic. Lastly, strategies to address an “age-friendly” workplace during a pandemic and post-pandemic are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-287

The article examines the impact of the discourses concerning idleness and food on the formation of “production art” in the socio-political context of revolutionary Petrograd. The author argues that the development of the theory and practice of this early productionism was closely related to the larger political, social and ideological processes in the city. The Futurists, who were in the epicenter of Petrograd politics during the Civil War (1918–1921), were well acquainted with both of the discourses mentioned, and they contrasted the idleness of the old art with the dedicated labor of the “artist-proletarians” whom they valued as highly as people in the “traditional” working professions. And the search for the “right to exist” became the most important goal in a starving city dominated by the ideology of radical communism. The author departs from the prevailing approach in the literature, which links the artistic thought of the Futurists to Soviet ideology in its abstract, generalized form, and instead elucidates ideological influences in order to consider the early production texts in their immediate social and political contexts. The article shows that the basic concepts of production art (“artist-proletarian,” “creative labor,” etc.) were part of the mainstream trends in the politics of “red Petrograd.” The Futurists borrowed the popular notion of the “commune” for the title of their main newspaper but also worked with the Committees of the Rural Poor and with the state institutions for procurement and distribution. They took an active part in the Fine Art Department of Narkompros (People’s Commissariat of Education). The theory of production art was created under these conditions. The individualistic protest and “aesthetic terror” of pre-revolutionary Futurism had to be reconsidered, and new state policy measures were based on them. The harsh socio-economic context of war communism prompted artists to rethink their own role in the “impending commune.” Further development of these ideas led to the Constructivist movement and strongly influenced the extremely diverse trends within the “left art” of the 1920s.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcio Piñon de Oliveira

A utopia do direito à cidade,  no  caso específico do Rio de Janeiro, começa, obrigatoriamente, pela  superação da visão dicotômica favela-cidade. Para isso, é preciso que os moradores da favela possam sentir-se tão cidadãos quanto os que têm moradias fora das favelas. A utopia do direito à cidade tem de levar a favela a própria utopia da cidade. Uma cidade que não se fragmente em oposições asfalto-favela, norte-sul, praia-subúrbio e onde todos tenham direito ao(s) seu(s) centro(s). Oposições que expressam muito mais do que diferenças de  localização e que  se apresentam recheadas de  segregação, estereótipos e  ideologias. Por outro  lado, o direito a cidade, como possibilidade histórica, não pode ser pensado exclusivamente a partir da  favela. Mas as populações  que aí habitam guardam uma contribuição inestimável para  a  construção prática  desse direito. Isso porque,  das  experiências vividas, emergem aprendizados e frutificam esperanças e soluções. Para que a favela seja pólo de um desejo que impulsione a busca do direito a cidade, é necessário que ela  se  pense como  parte da história da própria cidade  e sua transformação  em metrópole.Abstract The right  to the city's  utopy  specifically  in Rio de Janeiro, begins by surpassing  the dichotomy approach between favela and the city. For this purpose, it is necessary, for the favela dwellers, the feeling of citizens as well as those with home outside the favelas. The right to the city's utopy must bring to the favela  the utopy to the city in itself- a non-fragmented city in terms of oppositions like "asphalt"-favela, north-south, beach-suburb and where everybody has right to their center(s). These oppositions express much more the differences of location and present  themselves full of segregation, stereotypes and ideologies. On  the other  hand, the right to  the city, as historical possibility, can not be thought  just from the favela. People that live there have a contribution for a practical construction of this right. 


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