The Ministry of Public Health published a report regarding ageism in Uruguay whose life expectancy has increased ten years in recent decades, which translates into an over-aging of the population with an increase in the number of people over 80 years of age and even of the centenarians, who in 2004 were more than 500 and today are estimated at about 1,300. The most serious prospective studies on this matter suggest that in this trend scenario, by 2050 22% of the population will be elderly and will exceed to those under 15 years of age.
With this sociodemographic situation, the Ministry of Public Health, from the Physical Activity and Health and Older Adult programs, promotes a first campaign with the aim of raising awareness regarding age discrimination installed in society (“ageism”), raising awareness and making visible the value of older people in society and highlight the added social value of intergenerational relationships, in addition to promoting different strategies that link physical exercise, healthy lifestyle habits and active ageing.
ageism
It is a term coined by the American gerontologist R. Butler in the 1960s and is made up of three elements: stereotype, prejudice and discrimination: The stereotype is the preconceived and biased idea that is assigned to a person or a group ethnic or social. Prejudice is about how we feel about the person or group that embodies the condition, and discrimination is about how we act toward people based on their age, race, or gender.
Product of the ignorance of the concept and of the stereotypes and stories installed since ancient times in society, ageism is the most common, universal and trivialized form of discrimination that lacks sanctioning regulations. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), one in two people has ageist behavior towards older people.
According to experts on the subject, the ageist conception begins in childhood and is reinforced over time in the educational system, in the media and in the work and academic fields. Like other forms of discrimination, it can manifest itself in multiple ways, from derogatory and pejorative language, to violations of rights.
Ageism impacts the self-perception of handicap, the increased feeling of loneliness and the effective social isolation of older people and can increase the risk of experiencing situations of violence and abuse.
active aging
One of the ways to combat this type of discrimination is the promotion from different areas of “active aging”.
Active aging according to the WHO “allows people to develop their potential for physical, social and mental well-being throughout their life cycle and to participate in society according to their needs, desires and capacities while providing them with protection, security and care”.
Therefore, it is imperative to create adequate conditions so that older people can remain active in the physical, social and mental areas, participating in recreational, cultural, social, family and educational activities. Staying active and moving is a main aspect that includes not only non-competitive physical activity (walks) or competitive, but also mental and social.
Within the framework of the WHO’s decade of healthy aging that seeks preventive strategies and health systems friendly to the elderly, the Ministry of Public Health seeks to put the concept of ageism on the agenda with the aim of promoting reflection on this type of discrimination and the associated prejudices and beliefs to develop strategies that contribute to installing a positive perspective of the role that older people occupy and the value that they contribute to society.
