Addressing Ageism

We ❤ Aging

Ageism is a harmful, pervasive force that harms the health, economic, and social well-being of older adults. The World Health Organization defines it as the stereotypes (how we think), prejudices (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) toward others or ourselves based on age. It’s worth underscoring that ageism can be internalized—we may not even realize that we are sending ourselves harmful messages on a daily basis!

One way Age Friendly Seattle is tackling ageism is by raising our collective awareness of the issue through an anti-ageism training we created. We also compiled age-friendly tips for businesses trying to address their ageism. 

Anti-Ageism Resources

In addition to the training and businesses tips we created, several additional resources can be found in the Anti-Ageism section of the Age Friendly Seattle Resources page.

We will gladly share learnings from this work with other cities and organizations that share our enthusiasm for reducing ageism. We have presented on our work at the 2024 American Society on Aging national conference in San Francisco and the 2025 USAging Conference in Chicago, and are happy to speak with anyone interested. To connect, e-mail AgeFriendly@seattle.gov.

Additional Reading

Age Friendly Seattle staff and other contributors have published several articles in AgeWise that outline both the impacts of ageism and the theory, process, and goals of our anti-ageism training. Click here to read them.