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Cultural Competence in Public Health

Ageism in Healthcare

There is growing concern at a national level that aging populations will cause skyrocketing health care costs. A 2001 report showed that there was decreasing support among the general population for expanding programs for elders and increasing support for cutting costs and benefits. This is consistent with one researcher's observation that ageism is “a deep and profound prejudice against the elderly which is found to some degree in all of us.” For these reasons, ageism is increasingly recognized as a health disparity issue of great significance for this country, now and in the future.

Anderson, T. T. (2008). Ageism.  In Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health. (pp. 103-105). Springer US. DOI:10.1007/978-0-387-33754-8_24.

Encyclopedias

Selected E-books