In the May 27, 2010 National Post article, it uses both stereotypes. From its suggestion that restaurants have “denture-checks”, that all speed limits should be reduced, and that all movies be matinees, the Grandpa Simpson stereotype is alive and well. From its recommendations that swing sets and sandboxes be eliminated and that laws should be adopted banning people from “looking young and menacing within 500-meters of a retirement home, seniors’ centre or any person at or above 65”, we see the Mr. Burns stereotype ably reflected.
Notions of ensuring accessibility are good ones – indeed the idea of having a place for assistive devices in a restaurant is not only appropriate but part of the law in many parts of this and other countries. Marrying that with the notion of “denture checks” in restaurants reduces this to a mean-spirited absurdity.
The comment that we should adopt laws banning young people from seniors’ residences and social venues is offensive on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing both adopt the Framework for Positive Aging, which includes, as a key facet, intergenerational social interaction. Indeed, a major reported component of older adult depression is the segregation and isolation of seniors from other members of society, including children and youth.
Many of us have become increasingly aware of the insidious and pervasive nature of elder abuse and neglect. The most conservative estimates suggest that 1 in 12 seniors are subject to elder abuse and neglect in Canada – yet many in the field suspect this is more likely to be something like 1 in 8. The National Initiative For Care of the Elderly (www.nicenet.ca) is currently undertaking preparatory work for a full prevalence study on elder abuse. Whether a full study on the prevalence of elder abuse is undertaken will depend largely on Federal funding in the near future.
In 2008, the Government of Canada launched the first Federal Elder Abuse Initiative, investing $13 million over three years “to help seniors and others recognize the signs and symptoms of elder abuse and to provide information about support that is available.”
With funding for this initiative set to end this fiscal year, we can only hope that individual Canadians and organizations will contact their MPs and strongly advocate for the continuance of this important program.
Ageism and discrimination are themselves forms of elder abuse. This type of elder abuse funding would go a long way to challenging ageism and discrimination in Canada and supporting the creation of new materials and education which is inclusive and anti-ageist.
While discrimination on the basis of age is generally outlawed through various Human Rights Codes, and s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, attacking the issue of ageism is a more open, socially difficult battle. It is, however, very similar to other battles we have successfully fought – in the domains of Women’s Rights, Disabled Rights, Aboriginal Rights and others. While those battles are not over, significant social change in Canada has been achieved.
