Dispelling Ageism

The Cross-Cutting Intervention

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9760407
AutoresRobert N Butler (0000-0001-7868-0606, autor de correspondencia)
Año1989
Volumen503
Número1
Páginas138-147
Fecha de publicación1989-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0002716289503001011
OpenAlexW2046314330
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas44
Referencias citadas5

This article challenges all of us—policymakers, practitioners, scientists, members of the medical profession, the public at large—to intervene in the most basic of all problems of old age: “ageism,” a term the coinage of which I lay claim to. In concluding this special issue of The Annals on interventions designed to enhance the quality of aging, I begin with a history of ageism as a disease. I specify many of its manifestations, which still linger today despite years of effort to dispel the false stereotypes and myths about older people. Concerning the treatment of ageism as a disease, I find that knowledge is the most basic intervention, serving as antidote to numerous erroneous but widely held beliefs. I conclude with a brief rehearsal of a few interventions of special interest, including support for older people's sense of mastery, provision of specially designed self-help books, and the recognition of older people both as constituting an important market and as potential contributors to the productive capacity of the society

Annals · Intervention (counseling · Medical education · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychotherapist · Public relations · Quality of life (healthcare · Aging and Gerontology Research · Empathy and Medical Education · History · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology