1.Due to the increasing percentage of older adult clients in the U.S., it is imperative that healthcare providers assess and confront their own attitudes and perceptions toward older adults.
In your initial post, address the following:
- Describe ageism and its impact on societal views of older adult clients.
- Explain how ageism can influence the healthcare provisions of older adult clients.
- As a healthcare provider, how can one best assess and confront attitudes perceptions behaviors and biases toward older adults?
2.Respond to at least one of your peers who has different perspectives than your own.
Aging is an inevitable part of life. Unfortunately, some members of society have a negative attitude towards individuals who are a different age than them, whether it be older or younger, and may also engage in negative behaviors such as discrimination and prejudice towards them; this is considered to be ageism (Asiret, 2017). It is common to see younger people be unaware of ageist behavior towards the older adult population. This can be a form of discrimination and stereotyping and needs to be abolished, especially in a health care setting.
Older adults need to be given the same amount of care and attentiveness as patients of other ages. Younger nurses may view older adult clients poorly and wonder why they need an extensive amount of care. They may have the mindset that the patient may not live much longer or be able to tolerate the treatment and will question why even treat them to begin with. Ageism can result in reduced quality of care, inadequate communication, and lower expectations for recovery. For example, a nurse may not fully explain certain procedures or medications to an older client because they do not think that they can comprehend what they are explaining. As we know, when we age, we lose mobility and muscle tone, but cognitive function is still very much intact. Some healthcare providers may call or notify the patient’s younger family members regarding questions or concerns instead of the patient, in turn disrespecting the patient’s autonomy. It is also common to see medical doctors not offer certain treatments or procedures to older adults due to the fact that they do not think they will recover due to their age, even if they do not have any other comorbidities.
The best ways to make a change regarding attitudes, perceptions, behaviors, and biases towards older adults is to educate and promote awareness and facilitate anti ageist behavior. One way of doing this is to try and always be conscious about your actions and how they may be perceived. We also need to be advocates for our own patients and address any behavior
from other professionals or members of society that we notice are ageist. It is also important to educate others on what exactly ageism is and explain why it should not be tolerated at all.
Reference
Asiret, G. D., Kaymaz, T. T., Copur, E. O., & Akyar, I. (2017). Ageism Attitude towards Elderly: Young Perspective. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 10(2), 819–827.
