069 Chapter 5 Impact of the age awareness workshop Case study: Helping clients to advocate for themselves Jan, volunteer community visitor Jan has two longstanding clients she visits and with whom she feels she has developed good relationships. One of the clients was curious about what Jan had learned and discussed during the age awareness workshop she had mentioned attending. Jan explained that one of the topics covered in the discussions was that older adults should have a say in how they spend their time, that they should be able to do things or activities they enjoy, and have more control over their life. This reminded Jan about powers of attorney and she had a conversation with her client about when the appointments made under a power of attorney come into effect. During that discussion, Jan made sure to ask whether the client was, in fact, doing activities that she wanted, which she was assured was the case. Since the initial discussion, Jan has noticed that this client is much more open to directly discussing what they would like to do and advocating for themselves, rather than relying on their children as go-betweens. Jan believes sharing this information about older adults having more agency and having the discussion about powers of attorney, helped her client gain more confidence in advocating for their own needs. My client remembered that I went on the training and they asked, ‘Oh how was it?’ and I then started to talk about it … they were really excited about the idea that older people [should] have the freedom to do what they want to do, and it reminded them to keep on talking about it. 5.8 Reinforcing and extending existing knowledge and practices Some participants reported already having knowledge about ageism and prioritising non-discriminatory behaviour and practices prior to attending the workshop. For these participants, the workshop did not offer much in the way of new information or insights, rather served to reinforce existing beliefs and practices regarding older people. It’s hard for me to say whether the workshop changed my behaviours or opinions because that’s kind of what I do all the time anyway, so I suppose it’s just more reinforced what I already do. —Participant, age 40–51 I noticed [after the workshop] that I’ve been doing my job in a right way, so [I will] probably keep doing the same. —Survey response Several participants mentioned that, while they already had the awareness, they found the workshop to be a useful reminder of the need to keep checking for age-related biases in their work and interactions.