Right now, it feels like COVID-19 is the sole focus of our lives. Almost everything we do has been affected by the pandemic. Every trip to the grocery store, every family gathering, and even our education has been impacted by the coronavirus. One facet of our lives that seems to have been hit the hardest is healthcare. Doctor's offices, hospitals, and emergency medicine seem to have been completely turned around. There are new procedures for almost everything. Especially since COVID-19 impacts our elderly population the greatest, I thought now might be a good time to take a step back and look at healthcare as well as the way our systems interact with our aging community.
One of the main problems that elders face in regards to healthcare is ageism. Now, we've explored ageism before on our blog, so I don't want to get too much into it and include information that may be redundant. If you want to check out our other article exploring ageism in the workplace, make sure to click here.
Just to offer a brief definition, ageism is the discrimination or stereotyping of someones based on their age. Usually, ageism undermines one's competence by assuming that, simply because of their age, they are disqualified or unintelligent. Ageism can affect the young and the old, but for now, we're going to focus solely on how it affects our elderly population.
Ageism can be implicit, explicit, intentional, or unintentional. Ageism is typically practiced among three levels: micro, meso, and macro. Here's a brief description of each level:
- micro: amongst people or individuals; in conversation
- meso: within social networks
- macro: amongst institutions or enforced by cultural norms Additionally, ageist stereotypes can and are enforced by legislation. Ageism is extremely harmful to our aging community and, as we'll see, very prevalent in healthcare.
Ageism in healthcare is manifested in a number of ways. One of these ways is dismissing an elderly person's symptoms of a disease as a symptom of aging. For example, an elder could be complaining of extreme fatigue as a result of a chronic illness. Their doctor, assuming it's just a sign of aging, could completely invalidate the way they are feeling and disregard their symptoms.
On the other hand, doctors could overtreat symptoms of aging. The doctor, assuming that they are more susceptible to an illness due to their age, could prescribe unnecessary medication or treatment for disease that their patient doesn't even have.
Another harmful way ageism presents itself in the healthcare industry is when staff members make or laugh at ageist jokes. I know, I know, it seems harmless enough. But, these jokes enforce ageist stereotypes that harm our aging population and can even be dangerous. In order to make sure every elder's symptoms are being taken seriously, it is best to avoid these jokes.
Now, why is ageism in healthcare so prevalent? There are a couple of theories as to why it's such an issue. One of these theories is that in training, trainees aren't often as educated on geriatric care. Because they aren't aware of the harmful effects of ageism in healthcare, they aren't as likely to act against negative stereotypes or jokes poking fun at the elderly. It's a simple issue regarding awareness and can be combated effectively if done right.
Another, more complicated theory revolves around the thought that because healthcare staff is surrounded by elderly people with severe illnesses, they are conditioned to believe that all elderly people are frail and helpless. Now, this issue is hard to fight because it is impossible to control which patients you receive. The best way to deal with this problem is to encourage all staff to keep an open mind with their patients. While it might be difficult and take some time, I believe we can reverse the damage done by ageism in healthcare.
Thank you so much for reading my article; I really hope you enjoyed it. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to reach out! Have a great day.
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