A Rapidly Growing Movement

Outdated language and narratives perpetuate ageism, often unintentionally. We can and must do better. This communications toolkit from FrameWorks Institute and this Quick Guide to Avoid Ageism in Communication provide practical, concrete examples and guidelines.

Prestigious institutions across the world are also championing the potential of older adults:

• The World Health Organization has prioritized the elimination of ageism in its Global Report on Ageism, which “outlines what strategies work to prevent and counter ageism, identifies gaps and proposes future lines of research to improve our understanding of ageism.”
• The Stanford Center for Longevity recently introduced its New Map of Life initiative, which will “define new models for education and lifelong learning… and advance a new narrative, which redefines what it means to be ‘old’ and values people at different stages of life.”
• Columbia University’s Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center “seeks to bring about a Third Demographic Dividend: a new stage of societal development in which all ages and society broadly can benefit from the opportunities of longer lives. This will require… enabling older adults to use their many assets to help solve unmet societal needs through roles with meaning and purpose.”
• The MIT AgeLab “applies consumer-centered systems thinking to understand the challenges and opportunities of longevity and emerging generational lifestyles to catalyze innovation across business markets.”
• New books showcase new attitudes about aging and ageism, including Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Ageism and How to End It by Tracey Gendron, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University; The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World’s Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market by Joseph Coughlin, PhD, MIT; and Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live by Becca Levy, PhD, Yale.

  We urge you to look into these resources and share with your networks.