Dignity for older people

In today's news there is coverage about the need for dignity for older people within the NHS as some older pateients are reported as being patronised and treated without compassion or understanding. The report suggests that this behaviour lies deep within the organisations' culture and ageism needs to be addressed in the same way as sexism and racism were tackled. Bearing in mind the rampant ageism still within the UK and the West, even with the recent age discrimination legislation, this deep- rooted mindset is indeed very likely and is set to continue without action.

2012 is the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. One of the objectives is to promote activities to combat age discrimination, overcome age-related stereotypes and remove barriers (particularly from employment).

As the year unfolds, it will be interesting to see which activities (if any) the politicians and policy makers support to ensure that both the spirit and the letter of the law are addressed. Not least because cultural change is a long term problem and everyone is likely to suffer from ageism at some point in the future.

On-going age awareness learning and development within organisations, as part of an equality and inclusion strategy, could be a useful starting point to build sustainable cultural change. This would also add the benefits of improving the pool of workers, improving inter-generational understanding, reducing the cost of potential discrimination claims and doing something socially useful for employers .