Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T13:36:22.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

20 - Human Rights and Well-Being of Older Persons

Challenges and Opportunities

from Part III - Contemporary Issues in Psychology and Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2020

Neal S. Rubin
Affiliation:
Adler University
Roseanne L. Flores
Affiliation:
Hunter College, City University of New York
Get access

Summary

The World Health Organization defines ageism as “stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination towards people based on their age” (WHO, 2018). Ageist beliefs and stereotypes are expressed in cultural and media representations, institutional and governmental policies, and social practices that may limit people’s access to the resources necessary to lead healthy and productive lives, such as employment opportunities, housing choices, and health services. Under these circumstances, older persons are more vulnerable to social exclusion, political disempowerment, income insecurity, financial exploitation, homelessness, violence, and abuse leading to human rights violations such as the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This chapter examines how these violations impact older persons from a social psychological perspective through a selective literature review focused on ageism issues, including the impact of ageism on how old age is defined as a social category in various societies; how older persons are portrayed in culture and media; and how they are differently perceived and treated as migrants, patients, and workers. Possible best practices to reduce or eliminate ageism globally are also discussed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbaum, W. (2005). Ageing and changing: International historical perspectives on ageing. In Bengtson, V., Coleman, P., & Kirkwood, T. (Authors) & Johnson, M. (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp. 21–29). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
ADEA. (1967). Age Discrimination in Employment Act. www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfmGoogle Scholar
Appleyard, R. (2000). The human rights of migrants. International Migration, 38(6) Special Issue 3/2000. http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/migrants_human_rights.pdfGoogle Scholar
Arsian, C., Dumont, J. C., Kone, Z., Moullan, Y, Ozden, C., Parsons, C., & Xenogiani, T. (2014). A new profile of migrants in the aftermath of the recent economic crisis, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers. N160, OECD Publishing. www.oecd.org/els/mig/WP160.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ausman, J. I. (2008). Therapeutic nihilism and the elderly. World Neurosurgery, 69(5), 546–547.Google Scholar
Ayalon, L. (2019). Are older adults perceived as a threat to society? Exploring perceived age-based threats in 29 nations. Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(7), 1256–1265.Google Scholar
Ayalon, L., Doron, I., Bodner, E., & Inbar, N. (2013). Macro- and micro-level predictors of age categorization: Results from the European Social Survey. European Journal of Ageing, 11(1), 5–18.Google ScholarPubMed
Bai, X. (2014). Images of ageing in society: A literature review. Journal of Population Ageing, 7(3), 231–253.Google Scholar
Bai, X., Lai, D. L., & Guo, A. (2016). Ageism and depression: Perceptions of older people as a burden in China. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 26–46. doi:10. 1111/josi.1215CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balard, F. (2015). Old age: Definitions, theory, and history of the concept. In Wright, J. D. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 178–181). New York, NY: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2011). Social psychology and human nature. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Bennett, K. K., & Elliot, M. (2005). Pessimistic explanatory style and cardiac health: What is the relation and the mechanism that links them? Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27(3), 239–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, A., & Breen, C. (2002). Older refugees in humanitarian emergencies. Lancet, 360, s47–s48.Google Scholar
Butler, R. N. (1989). Dispelling ageism: The cross-cutting intervention. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 503(1), 138–147.Google Scholar
Chasteen, A. L., Kang, S. K., & Remedios, J. D. (2012). Aging and stereotype threat: Development, process, and interventions. In Inzlicht, M. & Schmader, T. (Eds.), Stereotype threat: Theory, process, and application (pp. 202–216). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chrisler, J. C., Barney, A., & Palatino, B. (2016). Ageism can be hazardous to women’s health: Ageism, sexism and stereotypes of older women in the health care system. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 86–104.Google Scholar
Classen, A. (2007). Old age in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Also an introduction. In Classen, A. (Ed.), Old age in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Interdisciplinary approaches to a neglected topic (pp. 1–84). New York, NY: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Covey, H. C. (1992). The definitions of the beginning of old age in history. International Journal of Ageing and Human Development, 34(4), 325–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2017). Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) charges. www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/adea.cfmGoogle Scholar
Fazel, M., Wheeler, J., & Danesh, J. (2005). Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries: A systematic review. Lancet, 365(9467), 1309–1314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flores, R., Gaba, A., Jaipal, R., Quintero, N., & Rubin, N. (2017). From surviving to thriving: Role of mental health in facilitating global health and attaining sustainable development. In Stout, C. (Ed.), Why global health matters: How to (actually) make the world a better place (pp. 492–515). (n.p.): CreateSpace Independent.Google Scholar
Fredvang, M., & Biggs, S. (2012). The rights of older persons: Protection and gaps under human rights law. Social Policy Working Paper no. 16, Centre for Public Policy & Brotherhood of St. Laurence. Melbourne: University of Melbourne. http://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/documents/fourth/Rightsofolderpersons.pdfGoogle Scholar
Fries, J. F. (2002). Ageing, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 80, 245–250.Google ScholarPubMed
Fung, H. (2013). Aging in culture. Gerontologist, 53(3), 369–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
International Organization for Migration. (2013). International Migration, Health and Human Rights. Geneva: Author. www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/WHO_IOM_UNOHCHRPublication.pdfGoogle Scholar
Iversen, T. N., Larsen, L., & Solem, P. E. (2009). A conceptual analysis of ageism. Nordic Psychology, 61(3), 4–22.Google Scholar
Jyrkinen, M. (2013). Women managers, careers and gendered ageism. Journal of Management, 30(2), 175–185.Google Scholar
Kalache, A., Barreto, S., & Keller, I. (2005). Global ageing: The demographic revolution in all cultures and societies. In Bengtson, V., Coleman, P., & Kirkwood, T. (Authors) & Johnson, M. (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp. 30–46). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kelly, J., Watson, R., Pankratova, M., & Pedzeni, A. (2016). Representation of age and ageing identities in popular music texts. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(6), 1325–1334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamont, R. A., Swift, H. J., & Abrams, D. (2015). A review and meta-analysis of age-based stereotype threat: Negative stereotypes, not facts, do the damage. Psychology and Aging, 30(1), 18–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, B. (2009). Stereotype embodiment: A psychosocial approach to aging. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(6), 332–336.Google Scholar
Levy, B. R., & Leifheit-Limson, E. (2009). The stereotype-matching effect: Greater influence on functioning when age stereotypes correspond to outcomes. Psychology and Aging, 24(1), 230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lipnic, V. (2018). The state of age discrimination and older workers in the US 50 years after the Age Discrimination Employment Act. www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/history/adea50th/report.cfm?renderforprint=1Google Scholar
Litwin, H., & Leshem, E. (2008). Late-life migration, work status, and survival: The case of older immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel. International Migration Review, 42(4), 903–925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Löckenhoff, C. E., De Fruyt, F., Terracciano, A., McCrae, R. R., De Bolle, M., Costa, P. T., & Allik, J. (2009). Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates. Psychology and Aging, 24(4), 941.Google Scholar
Loos, E., Ivan, L., Fernández-Ardèvol, M., Sourbati, M., Ekström, M., Wilin´ska, M., Carlo, S., & Schiau, I. (2017). Ageing well? A cross-country analysis of the way older people are visually represented on websites of organizations for older people. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology & Sociology, 8(2), 63–83.Google Scholar
Macdonald, J. L., & Levy, S. R. (2016). Ageism in the workplace: The role of psychosocial factors in predicting job satisfaction, commitment, and engagement. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 169–190. doi:10.1111/josi.12161Google Scholar
Malta, S., & Doyle, C. (2016). Mental health and well-being in older people: Butler’s three constructs of ageism in Australasian Journal on Ageing. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 35(4), 232–235. doi:10.1111/ajag.12363Google Scholar
Nadimpalli, S. B., James, B. D., Yu, L., Cothran, F., & Barnes, L. L. (2015). The association between discrimination and depressive symptoms among older African Americans: The role of psychological and social factors. Experimental Aging Research, 41(1), 1–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NGO Committee on Ageing. (2018). Strengthening older people’s rights: Towards a UN convention. www.ngocoa-ny.org/documents/resources/strengthening-rights/Google Scholar
North, M. S., & Fiske, S. T. (2012). An inconvenienced youth? Ageism and its potential intergenerational roots. Psychological Bulletin, 138(5), 982–997.Google Scholar
OECD. (2011a). Database on immigrants in OECD and non-OECD countries: DIOC 2010/11. www.oecd.org/els/mig/dioc.htmGoogle Scholar
Officer, A., & de la Fuente-Núñez, V. (2018). A global campaign to combat ageism. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 96, 299–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Loughlin, K., Kendig, H., Hussain, R., & Cannon, L. (2017). Age discrimination in the workplace: The more things change. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 36(2), 98–101. doi:10.1111/ajag.12429Google Scholar
Organization of American States. (2015). Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, June 15, 2015, T.S. No. A-70.Google Scholar
Ouchida, K. M., & Lachs, M. S. (2015). Not for doctors only: Ageism in healthcare. Generations, 39(3), 46–57.Google Scholar
Quintero, N., Sigal, J., Gammada, E., & Ober, T. (2016, August). Older migrants: Learning and adapting to a new culture. In J. Sigal (Chair), Psychological perspectives on the U.N. response to the global migration crisis: Promoting resilience amidst trauma. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Denver, CO.Google Scholar
Ramírez, L., & Palacios-Espinosa, X. (2016). Stereotypes about old age, social support, ageing anxiety and evaluations of one’s own health. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 47–68.Google Scholar
Robb, C., Chen, H., & Haley, W. E. (2002). Ageism in mental health and health care: A critical review. Journal of Clinical Geropsychology, 8(1), 1–12.Google Scholar
Rote, S., & Markides, K. (2014). Ageing, social relationships, and health among older immigrants. Generations, 38(1), 51–57.Google Scholar
Rozanova, J. (2010). Discourse of successful ageing in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical gerontology. Journal of Ageing Studies, 24(4), 213–222.Google Scholar
Ruggs, E. N., Hebl, M. R., Walker, S. S., & Fa-Kaji, N. (2014). Selection biases that emerge when age meets gender. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(8), 1028–1043. doi:10.1108/JMP-07-2012-0204Google Scholar
Sanderson, W., & Scherbov, S. (2008). Rethinking age and ageing. Population Bulletin, 63(4), 1–16.Google Scholar
Smith, L. K., Shenk, M. K., Tran, C., Poon, D. C., Wahba, R., & Voegtli, K. (2017). “There’s not a rug big enough to hide us under”: Participatory action research as anti-ageist psychological practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 48(6), 412–420. doi:10.1037/pro0000138Google Scholar
Sorokowski, P., Sorokowska, A., Frackowiak, T., & Löckenhoff, C. E. (2017). Ageing perceptions in Tsimane Amazonian forager-farmers compared with two industrialized societies. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 72(4), 561–570.Google Scholar
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797–811.Google Scholar
Stypinska, J., & Turek, K. (2017). Hard and soft age discrimination: The dual nature of workplace discrimination. European Journal of Ageing, 14, 49–61. doi:10.1007/s10433-016-0407-yGoogle Scholar
Torres, T. L., Camargo, B. V., Boulsfield, A. B., & Silva, A. O. (2015). Social representations and normative beliefs of ageing. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 20(12), 3621–3630.Google Scholar
United Nations. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights. www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/Google Scholar
United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspxGoogle Scholar
United Nations. (1991). UN principles of older persons. www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/olderpersons.aspxGoogle Scholar
United Nations. (2016). Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing for the purpose of strengthening the protections of the human rights of older persons, Session 7. http://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/Google Scholar
United Nations. (2018). Sustainable development goals. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300Google Scholar
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Population Division. (2017). International Migration Report 2017: Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/404). New York, NY: United Nations. www.un.org/development/desa/publications/international-migration-report-2017.htmlGoogle Scholar
United Nations Development Programme. (2009). Human Development Report 2009: Overcoming barriers. Human mobility and development. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/269/hdr_2009_en_complete.pdf.Google Scholar
United Nations, General Assembly. (1966). International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. United Nations, Treaty Series, 993(3).Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly. (2011). Social development: Follow-up to the International Year of Older Persons: Second World Assembly on Ageing: Report of the Secretary General, A/66/173 (22 July 2011) Sixty-Sixth Session. https://undocs.org/A/66/173Google Scholar
Virgincar, A., Doherty, S., & Siriwardhana, C. (2016). The impact of forced migration on the mental health of the elderly: A scoping review. International Psychogeriatrics, 28(6), 889–896.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization. (1946). Constitution of the world health organization.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2002). Proposed working definition of an older person in Africa for the MDS Project. www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2014). Mental health: A state of well-being. www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2018, February 5). Ageing and health fact sheet. www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2018). Ageing and life-course. www.who.int/ageing/ageism/en/Google Scholar
Ylänne, V. (2015). Representations of ageing in the media. In Twigg, J. & Martin, W. (Eds.), Routledge handbook of cultural gerontology (pp. 369–375). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×