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On Ageism
CellarDweller:
It's funny that this thread is active today.
I wish I could find it online, but on the news at work today was footage of seniors competing in a 50 or 100m dash. Those guys could still book it!
I laughed and said I wasn't gonna make fun, because if I was in that race with them now, they'd all beat me!
Front-Ranger:
Thanks for that link, Katharine. Somehow I missed that article when it was published. There are a couple of things that stood out: Friend talks about seniors' mental health being better than twenty- or thirty-somethings'. I agree, looking back. I was terribly lonely and confused in my early years and now I have a sense of purpose and an inner calm.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on March 19, 2018, 10:03:55 am ---I'm not sure I'm following this. Is it saying that the less ageist (less prejudiced against older people) you are when you are young, the less likely you are to suffer from age-related health issues when you get old? (I'm not disputing the point. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.)
--- End quote ---
Yes, there's a correlation between ageist attitudes and age-related health problems. The most famous research has been done by a Yale prof. named Becca Levy. If you scan her list of publications you'll get the idea: https://publichealth.yale.edu/people/becca_levy-2.profile
--- Quote ---But you're not really disputing my point about advertising, are you? I mean, if Abbott's brand is "life to the fullest," they're probably not going to show someone with Parkinson disease, walking with a cane and bent over with "dowager's hump."
--- End quote ---
I'm not disputing your point; of course commercials involving health products for old people are going to show them being happy and active. But when Abbott bought St. Jude Medical, which is where I worked, the messaging became trickier. Because whereas Abbott makes products to enhance the lives of already reasonably healthy people, SJM makes therapies for more seriously ill people.
For example, SJM does make a product for Parkinson's. They drill a hole into the top of your skull, run some lead wires into your brain, affix them to a device that's implanted under your skin on your chest. The device generates electrical signals that causes the wire to stimulate specific areas of your brain.
Sounds gross, but its effect on Parkinson's is amazing. I've seen videos of people with the device who are either not shaking at all or are barely shaking. Then they turn off the device (it works wirelessly with an iphone-like controller). Suddenly their arm is jerking all over the place. People go from not being able to lift and drink a cup of coffee to living reasonably normal and active lives.
There's a similar product they implant in your spine to treat chronic, debilitating pain. It sends electrical pulses into your nervous system to block the pain signals from reaching your brain.
Another product they make is called an LVAD. It's a thing they give you to keep your heart pumping if you for some reason can't get a heart transplant. As you get close to needing it, you can't walk from the couch to the bathroom without stopping twice to rest. Eventually, you'd be dead.
People like that aren't exactly climbing Mt. Everest (although a coworker did see a guy at her gym with an LVAD -- it's a fairly bulky, noticeable device and you have to carry extra batteries around at all times). So for those ads, they might show people having coffee with a friend, or walking their dog, or celebrating a birthday or, at most, riding a bike. Something enjoyable, that they formerly wouldn't have been able to enjoy -- not performing some amazing athletic feat that most people can't even do in their 20s.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on March 20, 2018, 09:42:52 am ---Yes, there's a correlation between ageist attitudes and age-related health problems. The most famous research has been done by a Yale prof. named Becca Levy. If you scan her list of publications you'll get the idea: https://publichealth.yale.edu/people/becca_levy-2.profile
I'm not disputing your point; of course commercials involving health products for old people are going to show them being happy and active.
--- End quote ---
Thanks! Glad to know we understand each other. :)
--- Quote ---But when Abbott bought St. Jude Medical, which is where I worked, the messaging became trickier. Because whereas Abbott makes products to enhance the lives of already reasonably healthy people, SJM makes therapies for more seriously ill people.
--- End quote ---
Curious. Any connection to St. Jude's Medical Center, the hospital for kids with cancer for which Marlo Thomas raises money?
CellarDweller:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 19, 2018, 09:39:37 pm ---Thanks for that link, Katharine. Somehow I missed that article when it was published. There are a couple of things that stood out: Friend talks about seniors' mental health being better than twenty- or thirty-somethings'. I agree, looking back. I was terribly lonely and confused in my early years and now I have a sense of purpose and an inner calm.
--- End quote ---
Purpose and inner calm is good!
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