# 3 Taking action against ageism

To combat ageism, we must be aware of it. Watch the video below from the Centre for Ageing Better for an overview of how ageism factors into many different aspects of our lives and society.

Video 6 'Ageism: Explained', Centre for Ageing Better

As a minimum you should try to:

- Be alert to ageism, in all its forms: stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.
- Play your part in ensuring your organisation is following the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
- Always be conscious of the language, terminology and any images you use.
- Reflect on your behaviour and actions – could they be ageist?
- Challenge ageism - informally or formally.

In their global report on ageism, the World Health Organisation outlined three effective strategies for combatting ageism, which you should take into account when planning your actions:

- Policy and law – (such as the Equality Act 2010) what changes do we need to see in policy – locally, regionally or nationally. Do we need changes to strengthen the law on equalities?
- Educational activities (formal and informal) – training courses, ongoing educational activities, taking a lifelong learning approach.
- Intergenerational activities – bringing different generations together to share ideas, work on projects and break down barriers, proven to be effective at reducing ageism directed towards older people.

## Activity 6

10 minutes

Consider how you might help combat ageism in your day-to-day life and work to help address ageism.

Can you think of three tangible actions you can take based on what you have learnt so far?

### Discussion

In your day-to-day life, take time to reflect on your own thoughts, attitudes and opinions as well as those of others within your social circle. Three tangible actions might be:

- Seek out opportunities to interact more with people of different generations in your family, workplace and community.
- Engage with your local authority, elected representatives, petitions or other democratic activism to help make positive change.
- Comment on social media content from organisations or brands to share knowledge or resources – equally important to acknowledge or amplify content that is age positive.

At work, consider what your organisation or team can do to combat ageism through service design, recruitment and training, provision of information and in decision making. Three tangible actions might be:

- Promote or encourage training or knowledge sharing.
- Review language or images in use in documents, on websites or other materials for potentially harmful stereotypes.
- Challenge any conversational comments or jokes made by colleagues.

If you struggled to think of tangible actions, don’t worry! Even though you may understand what ageism and the laws that apply in challenging it, it can be difficult to know what you are empowered to do and how best to do it. This section will look closely at how you can challenge ageism in different areas of life and society, as well as organisations that can support you.

OpenLearn - Ageism and age discrmination
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