Ageism continues to exist in society and many older adults have experienced it in some form, whether it’s at work or just going about our day, doing groceries or watching TV and seeing the ageist messaging in shows and commercials.
Some new research shows that people who have more health concerns are more likely to experience this everyday ageism. Conducted by researchers from the University of Oklahoma, Norman and the University of Michigan, the findings come from analyzing data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, which involved surveying more than 2,000 people between the ages of 50 and 80
The study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, doesn’t show that experiencing ageism causes more health concerns. Rather, the researchers are looking at the data as an indication that the link between ageism and health needs to be further explored. This possible relationship between the two needs to also be considered when designing programs to promote healthy lifestyles for aging adults, as noted in the news release from the University of Michigan.
For more about what the respondents were asked and the health-related measures they factored into the data in the survey, along with specific statistics (including how many people surveyed said they regularly experienced at least one of 10 forms of ageism), you can read the full release here.
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