As life expectancies lengthen and the world population of people aged over 65 is booming, older people continue to face ageism – treated as invisible, stereotyped and discriminated against.
This impacts on their health and quality of life and ignores their social and economic contribution.
The situation has been worsened through the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the International Day of Older Persons, doctors say that combating ageism will result in healthier, more active ageing and enable society to benefit more from the economic participation and social value of the growing population of over-65s, expected to be more than double by 2050.
Statistics show that over 65’s already out-number children under the age of 5.
Projections are that by 2050 there will be twice as many people over-65 as children under the age of 5, and they will also outnumber 15- to 24-year olds.
Half of all children born in 2020 are now predicted to live beyond 100, meaning that older people will no longer be invisible or irrelevant.
Member of the South African Society of Psychiatry (SASOP), Dr. Sihle Nhlabathi explains the term ageism:
