049 Chapter 5 Impact of the age awareness workshop Working in aged care has very much helped me to break down those preconceived notions and ideas that I had about ageing … I suppose before I started working [in aged care], I was quite ageist. —Participant, age 61+ I definitely had the assumption that being old meant everything just gets worse, you become frail, you have no autonomy but after working with older people and speaking to them day in and day out … These people are like the strongest people ever. They push themselves but they [also] know their limits. —Participant, age 25 Older participants shared their personal experiences of ageing and how they became increasingly aware of ageism around them, and directed at them. It appeared that for these participants, their attitudes and views of older adults and older age had evolved through their own experiences of ageing and ageism. As I’m ageing … I can’t do the things that I used to do when I was a 20-year-old, but it doesn’t mean that I’m still not able to achieve goals that I set for myself … They might take just a little bit longer but it’s not impossible. —Participant, age 61+ This idea that at 72 you’re elderly and you’re incompetent and you’re doddery … I’m 72 and that’s what I find so frustrating. People say to me, ‘You don’t look 72’. Well, this is what 72 looks like. Get over it. —Participant, age 72 Now that I’m starting to age … you sort of start to feel more aware of other people’s perceptions of you. When I tell people my age, they would say, ‘Oh I never would’ve guessed that’ and to me, that’s displaying ageism. —Participant, age 61+ On a daily basis now, I face ageism in the workplace. When it first started happening to me, it really did come as quite a shock. —Participant, age 61+ For these participants, their experiences of being stereotyped as an older person reinforced the importance of recognising the great variances that exist among older adults and treating each person as an individual, rather than making assumptions about people based on their age. I’ve met people who are in their 90s who are still very fit and others who are 60 and very fragile. [Older age] is a very broad spectrum. It’s about looking at everyone as an individual. The way [the media] labels an older woman as a grandmother … What’s that got to do with anything? You can be a grandmother at 34!