“How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Challenged Ageism: A role model who defied ageist stereotypes and discrimination.” – Psychology Today
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice
by Sherry Levi, Ph.D,
“We mourn the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who was a giant champion of equality and fairness and who fought stereotypes and discrimination. RBG was no stranger to stereotyping and discrimination, as she was often unfairly judged through labels such as woman, working mother, Jew, older adult, and older woman.
“RBG is fondly remembered for her immense accomplishments, including challenging age discrimination and becoming a role model who defied ageism and gendered ageism.
“For over 20 years, RBG faced blatant ageism with persistent public calls to step down as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a position that uniquely has a lifetime appointment. Justice Ginsburg would aptly point out that Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retired at 90. Why should an active and leading justice such as RBG be expected to retire before 90?”
Continue reading this article in its entirety at Psychology Today magazine.
“Loneliness doubled among older adults in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll shows.” – Futurity
(Credit: Getty Images)
by Kara Gavin
“Staying close to home and avoiding crowded places can help older adults reduce their risk of COVID-19. But the new national poll suggests it comes with a cost, especially for those with health challenges.
“According to the findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, in June of this year, 56% of people over the age of 50 said they sometimes or often felt isolated from others—more than double the 27% who felt that way in a similar poll in 2018.
“Nearly half of those polled in June of this year also said they felt more isolated than they had just before the pandemic arrived in the United States, and a third said they felt they had less companionship than before.
“Social contacts suffered too, with 46% of older adults reporting in June that they infrequently interacted with friends, neighbors, or family outside their household—doing so once a week or less—compared with 28% who said this in 2018.”
Continue reading this article at Futurity.com.
“Open Thread Update: Identity Crisis When you turn 65, are you ‘elderly?’ Or a ‘Senior?’ Or what?” – Senior Planet
“The big identity crisis, which we all thought we sorted out in our teens, re-emerges when we hit 60. We can be called ‘Seniors,’ but to some people, that’s only half a name. Some people bristle at ‘Senior Citizen,’ and others have mixed feelings about ‘oldster’ (sounds like a car!), ‘elder’ or cutesy titles like ‘Seasoned Citizens.’ And nobody, apparently, wants to be called ‘elderly.’
“Forget about ‘geezer,’ or ‘biddy’ too, which smacks of ageism.
“This is going to become more important as our age cohort continues to grow, according to some estimates. Earlier this year, an essayist (who looks to be years away from worrying about it himself) wrote a long piece (read it here) about what to call an older person.
“But he’s not in the arena, and we are. What should we be called? Take our poll and let us know your thoughts – or solutions! – in the comments.
“Report on Financial Exploitation of Older Adults” – PA Department of Aging
Older adults are at an increased risk for financial exploitation due to health changes which occur during the natural aging process, as well as their steady income, accumulated wealth, and retirement savings over their lifespan.
“In response to Governor Wolf’s Executive Order on protecting vulnerable populations, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging has released a study on the impact of financial exploitation of older adults in Pennsylvania.
“The study reviewed financial exploitation cases in 14 Pennsylvania counties during the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 to examine the types of financial exploitation that occurred, the combined amount lost, and the financial impact of these losses on the victims, the economy and the commonwealth. The study also reviewed financial exploitation studies conducted by three other states, as well as academic literature published on the topic.”
Click here to download the complete report, including the Department of Aging’s recommendations for how the commonwealth can strengthen prevention efforts.
“Give everybody the internet: We need to get the internet to everyone in America. Here’s what it would take to do it.” – vox.com
“Since the pandemic set in, Grace Riario and Melissa Morrone have witnessed a similar phenomenon at the libraries they work at in New York: people gathering around to try to catch the wifi outside their doors because indoor service is largely shut down. ‘People sit in the parking lot and on the benches outside, and they sit there for hours trying to do work,’ Riario said.
“Riario oversees nine libraries in the Catskills region, where some areas don’t have access to broadband internet at all. Morrone is a supervising librarian in Brooklyn, where even if people do theoretically have access, many can’t afford it. They’re both seeing the real-life manifestations of the so-called ‘digital divide.’ The divide is both rural and urban and tied to both access and inclusion.
“According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 21 million Americans don’t have access to quality broadband internet, though some estimates suggest that number is much higher, even double.”
Continue reading this article at vox.com.
Is your team overwhelmed by technology? | “Questions that can help your team manage technology overload“ – SmartBrief
Abilities in Motion Joins PA VOTES Nonprofit Collaborative
“We want to ensure that people with questions or concerns about voting in this year’s election have access to factual information,” Stephanie Quigley, Abilities in Motion’s Executive Director, emphasized. “Not only are we assisting people with registrations and making sure their information is up to date, but we are also providing resources and information on voter rights and accessibility to ensure that everyone is able to cast their vote with their own individual ability.”
“Through a collaborative grassroots effort, Abilities in Motion has partnered with PA VOTES to encourage and advocate for local voter participation ahead of the November 2020 general election.
“The PA VOTES program is a nonpartisan initiative of Nonprofit VOTE and the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania to support and evaluate the role of nonprofit service providers doing voter engagement. Its goal in recruiting nonprofit organizations is to increase the capacity of service providers to do voter engagement work and improve models for nonprofits to register and engage voters in the course of ongoing activities.
“The initiative will highlight the value of nonprofits conducting voter participation with their constituents and community through evaluation data and case studies.
“According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau on voting and registration in the November 2018 election, about 40% of individuals with independent living difficulty were represented in the electorate compared to almost 50% of those with no disability. Even more disparities in voting exist between participation of different races and income levels, as accessibility extends beyond factors related to disability.”
Click here to continue reading this article at BCTV.org.
Announcing PA VOTES – A Civic engagement initiative
Welcome to the Disability Equality in Education September newsletter
“In this newsletter (click on the graphic to download the newsletter) you will find lots of resources to engage students in a conversation on disability. The information and resources are created and vetted by disabled people to ensure that the conversation you start in your classroom has the voice of disabled people.
“This unique project asks educators to include disability as you do race, sex and gender in your curriculum. Disabled people and their achievements, issues and history are invisible, yet we make up almost 20 percent of the population.
“We want to educators with you to create more resources to help you to bring disability into the regular classrooms so that the generation you are teaching are free of the prejudice, stereotypes and ignorance that we as disabled people experience every day of our lives.”
Visit the Disability Equality in Education Website: https://disabilityequalityeducation.org/
“Why Black Aging Matters, Too” – Route Fifty
“‘Mardell Reed has high blood pressure, anemia, arthritis and thyroid and kidney disease. The 80-year-old says she no longer goes outside because of COVID-19, except under rare occasions. “I’m just afraid of being around people,’ she says.”
by Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News
“Old. Chronically ill. Black.
“People who fit this description are more likely to die from Covid-19 than any other group in the country.
“They are perishing quietly, out of sight, in homes and apartment buildings, senior housing complexes, nursing homes and hospitals, disproportionately poor, frail and ill, after enduring a lifetime of racism and its attendant adverse health effects.
“Yet, older Black Americans have received little attention as protesters proclaim that Black Lives Matter and experts churn out studies about the coronavirus.
“’People are talking about the race disparity in Covid deaths, they’re talking about the age disparity, but they’re not talking about how race and age disparities interact: They’re not talking about older Black adults,’ said Robert Joseph Taylor, director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.”
Click here to read this article in its entirety at Route Fifty.
“Depression, anxiety spike amid outbreak and turbulent times” – Associated Press
“FILE – In this Monday, June 1, 2020 file photo, a woman looks through a window at a near-empty terminal at an airport in Atlanta. Anxiety and depression are rising among Americans compared with before the pandemic, research suggests. Half of those surveyed in a study released on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, reported at least some signs of depression.” – (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
by Lindsey Tanner
“Mental health therapists’ caseloads are bulging. Waiting lists for appointments are growing. And anxiety and depression are rising among Americans amid the coronavirus crisis, research suggests.
“In the latest study to suggest an uptick, half of U.S. adults surveyed reported at least some signs of depression, such as hopelessness, feeling like a failure or getting little pleasure from doing things. That’s double the rate from a different survey two years ago, Boston University researchers said Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.
“The study did not ask about any diagnosis they might have received, and for many people, the problem is mostly angst rather than full-blown psychiatric illness. But experts say the feeling is genuine and deserving of professional help.”
Read this AP article in its entirety, click here.
