042 Chapter 4 Pre-workshop beliefs about ageing and older adults All ageing adults experience changes in their physical health to varying degrees, but unrealistically high or low expectations among care providers could be detrimental to the quality of care provided. For example, the belief that some physical problems are just a part of the ageing process could lead to carers selectively attending to certain symptoms, while dismissing others. On the other hand, when care providers hold unrealistically positive expectations of physical health in older age, it may contribute to feelings of inadequacy among older adults and even lead to blame being placed on older individuals for any perceived or actual declines in physical function.82 Figure 10. Pre-workshop responses to ERA-12 statements related to cognitive function ‘I expect that as I get older I will become more forgetful’ Pre-workshop 58% 42% ‘It’s an accepted part of ageing to have trouble remembering names’ Pre-workshop 42% 58% ‘Forgetfulness is a natural occurrence just from growing old’ Pre-workshop 42% 58% ‘It is impossible to escape the mental slowness that happens with ageing’ Pre-workshop 30% 70% Agreed Disagreed Respondents’ opinions were more varied about expectations of cognitive decline in older age. Responses to the statements associating forgetfulness with older age ranged from ‘somewhat true’ to ‘somewhat false’, indicating ambivalence regarding whether memory declines are to be expected with advancing age. The one exception was the statement, ‘It is impossible to escape the mental slowness that happens with ageing’, which around 70% of respondents considered to be at least somewhat false.