Young adults hold many stereotypes about aging and older adults that formal education cannot always address. Interaction and community engagement projects with older adults can challenge and dispel stereotypes young adults hold about older adults. This semesterlong project is designed for undergraduate students in interpersonal and relational…

As the number of older adults increases, it is important to understand how attitudes toward aging influence society, the aging process, and the counseling profession. Ageism--defined as social stigma associated with old age or older people--has deleterious effects on older adults' physical health, psychological well-being, and self-perception. In…

How are older adults presented in print and in the electronic media? Are they underrepresented? Are they accurately portrayed? Based on our examination of several forms of media over a four-month period, we discuss the role of the media in shaping our views on aging. Quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal that media representations often…

This article describes an exercise used in a life span developmental psychology course to tap into undergraduates' perceptions of activities of the elderly. Students were asked to generate items to be included in a hypothetical Activities of Older Adults survey (to be administered to people 65 years and older). Responses from 1,340 students over a…

A growing body of work suggests that negative stereotypes of, and associations between, falling, fear of falling, and ageing, may mean that older adults reject falls information and advice. Against a widely accepted backdrop of demographic ageing in Europe and that alleviating the impacts of falls and fear of falling are pressing health care…

Aging is a complex process that involves factors such as cultural, ethnic, and gender differences and is unique to each individual. Love, sexual intimacy, and sexuality are characteristics that help define individuals and often contribute to how well they will continue to live and age. Enhanced knowledge and healthy attitudes about sexual needs…

While the intergenerational bonds remain strong for children with elder relatives living close by, increasingly children in the U.S. lack meaningful connections with older adults. Divorce and family mobility are two major causes, and some youth are affected by negative stereotypes of older people. Bringing seniors into classrooms or taking…

Discusses a short course using commercial films that explores popular views of the elderly. Explains the primary goal of the course as enhancing student ability to critically examine the images of older people presented in the mass media. Includes discussions of articles, films, and written assignments. (DK)

Camp Fire Inc. offers a "Friendship across the Ages" program that brings older adults and children together. The adults share knowledge and skills, and the young people benefit from having an adult listen to them. (DF)

The authors focus on the special issues involved in providing counseling to aging gay men regarding sex and intimacy. Although the stresses of aging experienced by gay men are similar to those of heterosexual men, older gay men face issues of a stigmatized sexual orientation, invisibility, negative stereotypes, and discrimination regarding aging.

Introduces the Communication Enhancement Model, which promotes health in old age by stressing recognition of individualized cues, modification of communication to suit individual needs and situations, appropriate assessment of problems, and empowerment of both elders and providers. Discusses application of the model for two high-risk groups,…

Contradictory findings characterize the literature on the efficacy of intergenerational programs that bring children and older persons together for joint activities to promote more positive attitudes and stereotypes. Nor is it clear whether cross-generational attitudes are negative to begin with. The research reported in this paper operationalized…

Research on aging has contributed toward undermining negative stereotypes. In the last 20 years, the sociology of age has developed as a field that deals not only with growing old, but also with growing older from birth onward. The new role of grandparents is described. (MLW)

Describes a five-week unit dealing with ageism, especially in children's books. (DD)

Describes effort to dispel ageist attitudes in medical students in which medical students participated in weekly health seminars and provided health counseling for older adults living in community. Notes that exposing students to healthy elderly persons began to dispel stereotypical views engendered by previous exposure to only frail, acutely ill,…