How old are you? The question seems basic and harmless but the answer can condition the access to employment and even medical treatmentexplains the international expert on ageism and aging Vânia de la Fuente-Nuñez, who has just published The age trap.
Co-lead author of the World Ageism Report UN and director of the World Campaign Against Ageism of the WHODe la Fuente-Núñez reflects in his latest book (published by Ediciones B) on how ageist stereotypes harm us in all stages of life.
Ageism is behind expressions like “you’re an old man”the decision to corner workers when they turn 55, to use childish language with older people or to deny a loan or a banking product for being a certain age. “we are all ageistsbut some have more qualifications to be so,” says the author – a doctor and anthropologist – in an interview.
“Many times we are not aware of how our age is being used to restrict in the case of institutions, access to goods or services, and to opportunities such as employment, training, housing and even a bank account,” shares the expert.
Furthermore, he assures that on the issue of age “it is very present in the healthcare environment“and that affects everything from the diagnosis that we are going to receive to the type of treatment that we are sometimes not going to receive due to age. It can even happen “that older people are excluded from clinical trial studies, sometimes of medicines for them.
“The book wants to provoke a reflection on the dominant role that we have assigned to age in society, which is why the title The age trap. Age itself is not the problem, but the role we have assigned“adds de la Fuente-Nuñez.
The author believes that there are many very discriminatory expressions linked to age, such as “you are an old man” or “youth is the only defect that is cured with age. Many use age “to define who we are, what we should do and what opportunities we should have. “As we become immersed in all these age stereotypes that exist in society, there comes a time when we We internalize them and end up applying them ourselves,” he says.
De la Fuente-Nuñez believes that “we are all ageists“We know, for example, that men and people who fear death and those who have a lower educational level are more likely to be ageist towards older people. We also know that if we have more knowledge about aging, different age groups and more contact with people of different ages, we have fewer chances of being one,” adds the expert.
“Many times it is thought that a 47-year-old person is not going to be 47 years old because they will soon be part of the older population. And what we see is that these people in this borderline situation are sometimes older,” he explains, while assuring that this “is a adaptive mechanism to distance oneself from old age because of all the stigma associated with it and because of that fear of being associated with that age group.
Regarding ageism, the author believes that we are all “interested in confronting it and putting an end to it” and that it is something that “hurts us both individually and socially.” “It has a very negative impact in many aspects of our health and welfareis associated with a shorter life, worse physical and mental health (stress, depressioncognitive impairment) and also worse quality of life.
“It divides us and confronts us”
“As a society divides us and confronts us. This discourse that pits the young and old population against one another is very pernicious. When you try to divide through politics and the media, you prevent these two groups that share experiences and frustrations from joining together in collective efforts to change things,” he says.
The book includes tools to address ageism such as ‘Mythbusters’, which helps detect hoaxes that different age groups face, for example, the lack of commitment of older people to the climate change. Another tool is ‘The Pantry’ to identify and work with the contradictions between our values ​​and our biasesand to put ourselves in the shoes of others.
‘”‘Crochet hooks’ are intended for weave a network of relationships without age limits: the more people of different ages we have, the more effective it will be in ending ageism. And finally, ‘The Drop of Water’ reminds us how a simple drop can provoke profound social changes. It is enough for one in four people to put a stop to ageism, for us to really have that turning point, we do not need the entire population to change,” he explains.
De la Fuente-Nuñez emphasizes that “discrimination is our way of actingbut it is also important that we consider our way of thinking about what stereotypes are and what we feel are prejudices.” “And obviously, another thing that I would highlight is that they use the word ‘elderly’ which the older population does not admit for all reasons. negative connotations,” he concludes.
