Ageism
Our projects
We are addressing ageism by raising awareness and teaching Reframing Aging principles.
Ageist beliefs and attitudes have long contributed to societal structures and systems that deprive older adults from benefiting from and contributing to organizational and community life. With national and state efforts, however, this is rapidly changing and CAPRA staff are fully engaged in the anti-ageism, age-positive movements in Maine and around the country in an effort to influence policies, programs, and initiatives that will allow all of us to age with dignity and security.
— CAPRA co-director, Mary Lou Ciolfi, is the lead evaluator for the national movement to reframe aging, housed at the National Center to Reframe Aging within the Gerontological Society of America. She and UMaine colleagues have engaged in Ripple Effects Mapping activities to better understand the impact of reframing aging, and reported on the evolution of the movement since its inception in 2015 with the publication of Frameworks Institute’s groundbreaking Gauging Aging paper.
— Mary Lou is also the lead evaluator for Maine Council on Aging’s (MCOA) innovative Leadership Exchange on Ageism (LEA) and has worked with MCOA staff on successful replication of the LEA model to other states. The LEA has graduated over 300 leaders in Maine, Oregon, New Hampshire, Colorado.
— Mary Lou is a frequent presenter on ageism and reframing aging topics and in recent years has contributed to raising awareness of elderspeak and the harm that it causes to older adults, particularly those living with cognition change in later life.
For more information on our ageism-related work and presentations, please contact Mary Lou Ciolfi at marylou.ciolfi@maine.edu