By Emily Piper, commissioner of
the Minnesota Department of Human Services and Kari Benson, executive director,
Minnesota Board on Aging
Older Minnesotans today serve as workers and volunteers in government,
our schools, faith communities, civic organizations, the arts and other places
that make our communities vibrant, enjoyable places to live. Older adults
already are helping to alleviate a caregiver shortage likely to become more
severe in the years to come. Many are not only supporting their own parents but
their children, grandchildren and other family members and friends.
We now have an opportunity to maximize what each of us can contribute as we, on
average, live longer and healthier lives. In just a few years, one-fifth of our
population will be age 65 or older – this represents a gold mine of
resourcefulness, creativity and experience we must tap for the health of our
state.
Standing in the way of
these benefits is ageism, discrimination based on prejudices about age. It can
be directed at people of any age but when it’s directed at older people, it often involves
the assumptions that older people are less competent than younger people and
need someone else to take care of them.
Ageism is largely unconscious. Our exposure to pervasive negative
messages about older people and their capabilities leave us with a prejudice we
may not even be aware of. The negative effects of this bias, however, can be
dramatic.
It can range from workplace discrimination and harassment to social
exclusion and neglect to egregious abuse in older adult care settings. Ageism
affects the economic security of many older adults who would like to be working.
Stress, depression and a higher risk of heart disease result when we
internalize negative messages about growing older. Conversely, a Yale study
showed that positive attitudes about aging could extend one’s life by more than
seven years.
Many Minnesotans are ready for change. People participating in MN2030
community conversations sponsored by our agencies ranked respect and social
inclusion high on issues our state should address as we prepare for the year
2030. That is the year baby boomers will begin to turn 85 and one in five
Minnesotans will be over the age of 65.
The MN2030 initiative is about building on our successes and nurturing
bold ideas to shape our future as we grow older. We want to make Minnesota a
great place to grow up and grow old. We want all Minnesotans to be treated with
respect, regardless of age.
We’ve learned through these conversations that people of all ages want
to be connected and to figure out how to support each other. Older adults have
come forward in these discussions with ideas for making that happen and with
creativity and energy to solve other community problems.
If you want to help overcome ageism and to prepare Minnesota for 2030, there
are things you can do. Take the MN2030 survey
to identify the most important aging issues facing our state. You can find out
how your views about aging line up with reality by taking the Aging Attitudes
Quiz on the World Health Organization’s website. Then talk about this with
your family and friends.
The same ingenuity that has made Minnesota a national leader supporting
older adults can help us see aging differently. We can reframe how we look at
older people who, if we think about it, are ultimately the people we all hope
to be.
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