Reviews literature to support the contention that misconceptions about the aging process have a detrimental effect on healthy aging. Seeks to demonstrate how stereotyping can affect the shape and nature of programs for elderly people. Argues that for long-lasting change to occur, service providers need to target these negative attitudes in…

Family physicians may lack discriminatory ability to differentiate normal aging form disease states. To assess such ability, 53 aging-related indicators or symptoms were presented to 65 physicians in 3 family practice residency programs. Respondents classified each symptom as normal aging or disease. On average, residents classified 73.4% of…