Week 9

“It’s a bias some also see in substandard conditions at nursing homes, in pension-plan cutbacks by employers, in the relative invisibility of the elderly on television shows and in advertisements.”  This rang especially true for me. I took a CNA course last year and the end of the class was two weeks of clinical studies at a local long term care facility. I am sure I don’t have to explain in much detail why it was so hard to do. If you have spent any time at one of these facilities you understand the challenges that the residents face. They are mistreated, ignored, and rarely visited by friends or family. I feel that all of these challenges need to be wiped completely away, but the question of “how?’ still remains.

 “What makes me mad is how aging, in our language and culture, is equated with deterioration and impairment,” Palmore said. “I don’t know how we’re going to root that out, except by making people more aware of it.”  This is absolutely true to me. Aging is never presented as positive progression, growth, and a gain of wisdom. It is portrayed as diminishing mental and physical capacity, impaired hearing and bladder control, and lack of understanding. I believe(just like many things in the past that have been given the short end of the media stick) these stereotypes and displays should be removed from our society. My generation may have different (sometimes very different!) views on certain subjects and ideals, but that does not equate to mental deterioration and impaired judgment, due to age anyway :0). We need to take care of our older generation with respect, love and an understanding that they don’t have to slow down and sit down simply because they are aging.

“One can say unequivocally that older people are getting smarter, richer and healthier as time goes on,” Palmore said. “I’ve dedicated most of my life to combating ageism, and it’s tempting for me to see it everywhere. ... But I have faith that as science progresses, and reasonable people get educated about it, we will come to recognize ageism as the evil it is.”  This man is a great motivation. He embraces his age and experience and refuses to let anyone get away with putting him, or others, down because of their age.