Thread by @DrSharronH

Ageism. It's widespread across the globe, and can have significant and serious consequences for our health and wellbeing. Here's a short thread on a piece in @TIME, from 2020, which featured research from Prof Becca Levy @YaleSPH #ageism #health #wellbeing 1/

Prof Becca Levy, Yale School of Public Health, and colleagues 'analyzed 422 studies involving ageism in 45 countries from 1970 to 2017... including data from seven million older people' with a focus on 'age discrimination and health outcomes'... 2/

They found evidence that ageism adversely affects health in 96% of the studies
And that ageism was related to worse health outcomes for 11 measures... 3/

Four measures were structural:
-Denying older adults of access to healthcare
-Excluding older adults from clinical trials
-Rationing resources, inc medical services, because of their older age
-And providing limited work opportunities... 4/

Seven were individual:
-Decreased longevity
-Poor quality of life
-Compromised social relationships
-Risky health behaviour
-Mental illness
-Cognitive impairment
-Physical illnesses... 5/

'Many of these measures were seen in an overwhelming majority of the studies'
e.g. 85% showed ageism linked to denied access to healthcare, and 95% provided evidence that ageism affected mental health inc depression and symptom increase over time... 6/

Prof Levy said “We found evidence of ageism in every country we looked at, every year we looked at, and in every health domain we looked at... the pervasiveness of it I found disturbing”... 7/

They also discovered that 'When older people adopted a more positive perception of their age, rather than buying into negative stereotypes, they experienced less anxiety and suicidal ideation'... 8/

Which has clear implications for what we do to counter ageism.
Prof Levy also suggested that 'improving education for healthcare providers about age-based bias could alleviate some of the negative health effects of ageism' and consequently save millions in healthcare costs.. 9/

So, I'm ending this thread with a call to action. Let's commit to tackling ageism at structural and individual levels, and get rid of it once and for all. It's for the good of everyone
This report 🔥 tinyurl.com/34d9r7h3 #EndAgeism #AWorldForAllAges
@UNDecadeAgeing... 10/10