Table of contentsAgeism in the mediaConclusionReferencesAging was constant in every person. People experienced the joy and excitement of youth before being condemned to the horrors of frailty and old age. Or rather, popular media wanted people to believe this about aging. Truth be told, these perceptions were mostly false, simply myths and stereotypes that were generally hurtful. While there were some positive stereotypes depicting older people as a wealth of wisdom and leaders of society, there were even more negative stereotypes that were harmful to society. Ageism is a disease that affects many cultures. One in four Canadians aged 20 to 75 have admitted to treating someone differently because they were older (Revera, 2016). The idea that older people were useless and incompetent robbed an entire generation of people of years of their lives. This essay will examine how popular culture portrays older people in the media as well as the effects of the "useless and incompetent" stereotype on mental, physical, and social aspects. This essay will also explain why nurses have a duty to combat this stereotype and intervene to create a difference in healthcare settings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayAgeism in the MediaConsumerism was obsessed with youth, even older people (Kleyman, 2017). The elderly were made up of the third and fourth ages. Old age was the time in a person's life when they were financially secure and healthy with few or no responsibilities. On the other hand, the Fourth Age was associated with declining health and the inevitability of death. Ageism has created a new divide between the two ages in popular culture. The third age was seen as simply older youth, while the fourth age was even more isolated due to the loss of pleasure and autonomy. This has led to pervasive stereotypes within popular culture, depicting older people as expendable and incompetent. For example, anti-aging culture was a market that preyed on the stereotype that older people are useless and therefore undesirable. Success was linked to the image of a young and thin appearance (de Mendonça, 2016). The fight against aging affects more women than men, both because they constitute the target market, but also because statistically, women live longer than men. The wrinkled old woman's face often had negative connotations in the media, leading people to internalize these harmful messages. This unattractive image of an aging body has led to the isolation of older people in (Mendonça's) society. Although some depictions of older people show aging as a positive rather than a negative aspect, this depiction was unrealistic and inaccessible, especially for those from low-income families. Nevertheless, the negative image of an older person created an environment that fostered discrimination, creating lasting effects among older people and throughout society. Negative perceptions of older people have not only been reinforced by young people, but also by older people themselves. This internalized ageism was detrimental to the mental health of older people. In Canada, 51% of people aged 77 and over believed they could not do activities on their own. Furthermore, aone in four people in the same population said people made decisions for them without asking their opinion because of their age (Revera, 2016). This feeling of hopelessness and worthlessness created a higher risk of psychopathology such as depression in older adults. For example, studies have shown that depression in older age is associated with the inability to perform activities of daily living as well as negative self-critical perceptions (Han and Richardson, 2015). Having their ability to make decisions taken away can worsen their mental health. Loss of control, lack of purpose, and hopelessness were all correlated with suicidal behavior, typically seen in older adults who refuse care in favor of dying to escape a meaningless life. Ageism has also led to worse outcomes for older adults in minority communities. For example, queer older adults already had high rates of depression and suicide due to their gender and sexuality. However, ageism was still prevalent within the community. Programs within LGBTQ communities were often targeted at queer youth, leaving older adults with a lack of resources and poorer outcomes. Additionally, older people in the queer community still suffered from the effects of ageism that the rest of the population suffered from. The public also tends to erase queer older people and ignore their lived experiences, dismissing them as irrelevant. This isolation and erasure because it is meaningless in youth culture has created a population of older people at high risk of mental health problems. In addition to mental health effects, the stress of ageism has also caused health effects related to chronic diseases. For example, stress due to ageism could lead to life-threatening cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke. Additionally, acquired hopelessness due to ageism has also created unhealthy behaviors among older adults. For example, after life-threatening events, such as acute myocardial infarction, older adults with negative age perceptions showed less improvement than older adults with positive age perceptions (Brenner , 2017). Nurses and other healthcare professionals have also played a role in the harmful physical effects of ageism. Older people often had their concerns ignored and received fewer routine screenings than younger people. Older people also received less aggressive treatments than younger people, leading to poorer outcomes. Finally, although older adults were among the populations that needed more health incentives, program budgets were generally allocated to the younger population, leading older adults with fewer resources to improve their physical health. Older people suffered from stereotypes in the labor market and in their family life. First, because of the unhelpful and incompetent stereotype, older adults have a harder time finding jobs than younger adults. As the workforce rapidly evolves technologically, employers tend to believe that older adults are reluctant or unable to learn new skills. Older people were also seen as less productive and lacking stamina. For example, older people running for public office were often asked if they had the stamina to lead, despite their years of experience(Raynor, 2015). Older people were also socially excluded in their family lives and many suffered from abuse. In the United States of America, one in ten older adults aged 60 and over have been abused. Many were neglected, exploited, and physically harmed because they were perceived as worthless and incompetent (Blancato and Ponder, 2015). This view of incompetence has also extended into the health care setting in the form of elder talk, a form of communication that infantilizes and degrades older adults. The simplification of concepts, the high-pitched voice, and terms of endearment such as “sweetheart” or “darling” were all aspects of elder language. Even though many professionals had no bad intentions towards this practice, the elders' language remained insulting and harmful to the elderly person's self-image. Not only does elder talk demean the older person's intellect, thus conveying the ageist stereotype of incompetence, but this practice also diminishes the older person's self-esteem and sense of independence. As a result, healthcare professionals expose older adults to mental health problems, such as depression and suicidal behavior. Ageism has created harmful social environments throughout society. Nurses should create programs and incentives to combat the effects of age discrimination. While internalized ageism was apparently one of the main causes of health problems among older adults, upstream solutions that combat ageism within healthcare and society will have a greater impact. Nurses have a duty to ensure the safety of the entire population. They must therefore campaign for the end of ageism. Nurses can start in the workplace by critically thinking about their biases and analyzing how it changes their practice. Nurses should always provide culturally competent care, so their biases should not affect their treatment of older adults. Nurses should also teach nursing students the language of elders and the harmful effects of practice before entering the health care setting. Nurses should also lead programs within the health system to educate the interprofessional care team about elder language. Programs with occupational therapists who trained people to speak to older adults with respect rather than elder-speak have generated better patient outcomes. Similar programs may therefore prove useful in the future. Nurses should also combat ageism in the media. Programs to raise awareness of the effects of anti-aging products on mental perceptions of aging could help the public understand that aging is not undesirable. Additionally, public health nurses could create programs that challenge negative stereotypes about aging within the community. For example, programs that encourage healthy behaviors among older adults without the obsession with appearing young can increase positive views of aging within the community. Additionally, nurses should combat institutionalized ageism by encouraging health systems to allocate more money to preventative primary health care for older adults. This ensures better mental and physical outcomes for older people. Finally, nurses should advocate for an inclusive workforce that hires and retains older employees. This involves their/10.1080/13607863.2017.1304522