I found this report from the UK’s Centre for Better Ageing really interesting! An old age problem? How society shapes and reinforces negative attitudes to ageing.

In examining the most common words and phrases used to describe seniors, the Centre found predominantly negative associations. As well as destructive associations linked to portrayals of older adults as causes of crises in health and social care and pension funds, the unhelpful construction of competition between boomers and millenials adds to the overall perception of aging as something to be avoided or ignored. Which is not possible.

This helped me as a reminder to more carefully weigh my words and continue to work on my goal of finding more positive ways of speaking and communicating. We can always disagree respectfully as well as discuss difficult topics in a constructive manner and is probably something most of us are always working on! So many parts of life are works in progress!

More information on the research and the full report is available online here.