011 Executive summary Findings Key finding A brief, one-off educational intervention can be a powerful tool in creating lasting positive changes in attitudes and behaviours towards older people. The Commission’s findings demonstrate the potential of a brief, one-time educational intervention to generate attitudinal and behaviour changes that are sustained over time. Participants attended a 2.5-hour interactive age awareness workshop and completed pre- and postworkshop online surveys, which used validated tools to assess their attitudes towards older adults and ageing and track changes over a 2–3-month period. The results showed overall decreases in age-based biases and assumptions immediately following the workshop, which were maintained at a follow-up conducted two to three months later. Responses to questions in the follow-up survey about changes in behaviour revealed that the workshop served as a catalyst for positive changes in the vast majority of respondents’ thoughts and behaviour. For example: • • • • 90% reported rethinking the way they communicate with older adults 87% had discussed ageism with others 86% actively considered actions they could initiate to address ageist attitudes in their workplace 82% reconsidered their attitudes towards ageing. Post-workshop focus group discussions further indicated that participants had taken various actions because of the workshop, such as changing the way they interact with older adults, adopting new work practices or approach, sharing the learnings with others, and calling out ageism in their workplace and community. These findings suggest that while ageism may be the most normalised and socially accepted form of prejudice, it is also malleable and amenable to change. Moreover, there were similar outcomes for participants who attended an online workshop and those who participated in person, suggesting that online interventions may be a low-cost and convenient alternative to face-to-face interventions.