Older Adults Honored Through Dance (Research, Video 2:02)

I have witnessed outstanding young people displaying great kindness toward older adults on many occasions. But I have also viewed lots of young people on the Internet in so-called funny videos mimicking older adults in the most insensitive ways. Stereotypes were used in the extreme with language and graphics defying human decency. In addition, some young adults are guilty of mistreating older adults in terms of crime, service, and general courtesy.

If young adults really appreciated the sacrifices that were made for them by previous generations, not just in their own families, but society in general, perhaps they would understand that many of these older adults are entitled to far more respect than they are receiving from them. Unfortunately, when many older adults who are treated unfairly due to their aging, they develop negative views about themselves. A study on aging “reflects the importance of positive views on aging as a resource for a healthy old age despite aging in precarious circumstances.”

This amazing video with young adult dancers celebrates the love and vibrancy of older aging. Keone and Mariel Madrid, dance choreographers who are a young married couple, perform a routine as an older couple to Bob Marley's "Is This Love?” Like the song says, older adults just want to be loved and treated right.  Who doesn’t?

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Age Progression Stereotypes of Young Adults (Research, Video 3:38)

Are you locked in the age cage with negative views on aging that you have nurtured since childhood? Do you find yourself making cynical, stereotypical jokes about older adults' undesirable behavior and appearance? Negative self-stereotyping unconsciously influences behaviors. Older adults can help eliminate ageism by committing to unlocking and leaving their own age cages and modeling positive acceptance to younger generations.

Technology can speed up the visual aging process now with age progression simulators that eliminate the long wait to see results of certain aspects of aging. Consider how many young adults today view aging and their responses while being participants in a research study in old-age progression. These college students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: self-aged simulation (viewing their own aging), stranger-aged simulation (viewing strangers aging), or a control group. Which group do you think had the most negative responses regarding aging? If you said the self-aged group that evaluated their own aging progress, you are right.

Individuals in the self-aged simulation group reported greater aging anxiety and greater aging. They also perceived older adults as less competent and expressed more pity and less envy for older adults. Compared to the stranger-aged group, participants who observed their own age progression were more likely to deny the authenticity of their transformed image.

These results confirm the stereotypes many young people have already accepted about older adults, even negatively stereotyping their own aging in virtual experiences. In this video, young people explain their views regarding their own age progression simulations predicting how they would look in 40 years:

You might also be interested in this nationally recognized research our fourth graders did on ageism stereotypes in nursing homes:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/intergenerational-service-learning-student-nursing-home-parker/

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Young Celebrate Older Adults Through Dance (Research, Video)

Some young people don’t seem to have a clue that older adults are the major reasons they enjoy many of life's pleasures. If they really appreciated the sacrifices that were made for them by previous generations, not just in their families, but society in general, perhaps they would understand that many of these older adults are entitled to far more respect than they are receiving from them.

I have witnessed outstanding young students displaying great kindness toward older people on many occasions. But I have also viewed lots of young people on the Internet in so-called funny videos mimicking older people in the most insensitive ways. Stereotypes were used in the extreme with language and graphics defying human decency. In addition, some young adults are guilty of mistreating older adults in terms of crime, service, and general courtesy. In a study published in Research on Aging where older adults were asked if they received worse service and if people treated them with less respect and courtesy because they were older, one in three said they felt they were treated worse because of their age.

Recently, I discovered this amazing video with young dancers celebrating the love and vibrancy of older aging. Keone and Mariel Madrid, dance choreographers who are a young married couple, perform a routine as an older couple to Bob Marley's "Is This Love?” Like the song says, older adults just want to be loved and treated right.  Who doesn’t?

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog