The Urgent Need to Address Ageism

‘COVID hit us over the head with a two-by-four,’ advocate on aging says

If there’s a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that medical professionals observed firsthand the problems that ensued and realized that older adults needed special consideration. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization announced a global campaign to combat ageism—discrimination against older adults that’s pervasive and harmful but often unrecognized.

“We must change the narrative around age and aging” ... “adopt strategies to counter” [ageist attitudes and behaviors], WHO concluded in a major report accompanying the campaign.