Recognizing and Responding to Ageism

Description

When’s the last time you heard something positive about aging? Maybe you’ve heard about the U-curve of happiness, which shows that we get happier each decade after our 40s. Or maybe you’ve talked with your colleagues about how older workers bring emotional maturity to the team, and so much more. More often, people talk about aging as a one-dimensional process of loss and decline, and we hear negative stereotypes and prejudice about aging: in media, from other people, and even within ourselves. This is ageism, and research shows that these negative comments are not only wrong, they're actually harmful. The truth is, we continue to learn, develop, and grow throughout our lives—and there’s a lot to celebrate about “growing up.” In fact, a positive attitude about aging has been shown to improve our health and expand our life expectancy. In this webinar, we’ll learn to improve our well-being by recognizing and responding to ageism, whether we find it in ourselves, in friends and colleagues, in advertisements and media, or anywhere else.

Video

About the Speaker:

Margaret McDonald is a writer, a speaker, a learning designer, and a pro-aging advocate. She’s a member of the Advisory Council on Ageism and Culture with the American Society on Aging, and she’s the activist behind GrowingAndOlder.com and the “Aging Is Living” campaign, which provides free artwork for yard signs, postcards, and other pro-aging gear.
In her day job, Margaret works at Hadley, helping to create workshops on daily living skills, recreation, braille, and tech topics, for people with vision loss. She recently earned a graduate certificate in Training and Development from Portland State University, and she’s dedicated to using her knowledge and skills to help people learn, to raise awareness of ageism, and to encourage everyone to embrace the growing part of growing older.