From Ageism to Age Equality: Addressing the Challenges ...

Guide to Auditing Age DiscriminationStandard One of the NSF, Rooting Out Age Discrimination, was a catalyst for looking systematicallyat areas where there had been concerns but little had been done to take stock of the potential issuesand problems. The monitoring of the initial audit of policies by the Department of Health had focusedminds on beginning the task. Few policies were found to be directly discriminatory but indirectdiscrimination and ageist attitudes and behaviours were more common.How to Identify and Eradicate Age Discrimination and Prioritise ActionThe age discrimination agenda seemed disconnected from other organisational imperatives. People inage discrimination scrutiny groups were working hard but often lacked confidence in what they weredoing and questioned whether they could be doing more. There were, however, many examples ofgood practice. Active scrutiny groups reflected the enthusiasm and commitment of dedicatedindividuals.Practical TipsThese involve:an approach to the scrutiny processhow to identify age discrimination48what to do to combat age discrimination.The Scrutiny ProcessWe devised the following set of health checks for scrutiny groups who were auditing for agediscrimination. These covered the following five areas:1. work programme2. attendance3. meetings4. support5. taking action.Scrutiny Group Health Check (1): Work ProgrammeIs the group clear what its purpose is?Does the group have a clear programme of work, with identified leads and timetables?Is there a programme to address explicit policies, unthinking or insensitive provision of services,staff awareness, attitudes, behaviour, unwritten policies, custom and practice?Is the work programme reviewed at regular intervals?Conference Proceedings