How can the health impact of ageism be overcome? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Almost all stereotypes of older people are negative, and their impact on the health of elders is also negative. Now a new study attempts to counteract ageism by exposing people to more positive views of becoming older, and Colleen Christmas, a geriatrics expert at Johns Hopkins, says these types of messages help.

Christmas: Having more positive views of aging, fewer ageism beliefs about yourself, was associated with increased survival of 7 1/2 years. Yeah they found that people that had more positive views about what aging could hold for them were far more likely to participate in preventive health measures and screening and seeing their doctor and exercises because that makes sense. If you think the future could hold some positive things and you want to try and get to the future you want to try and stay healthy as long as you can.  :29

Christmas says while waiting for systemic change, people can become aware of these pervasive attitudes and takes steps to counteract them. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.