Public Perceptions of Older People A literature review

Executive summary
As people live longer, the population of older people is growing significantly.
This brings with it many social, political and economic challenges. It becomes
increasingly important to gain an insight and understanding into how older
people are perceived by the public as it is from these perceptions and
attitudes that ageist behaviours, discrimination and mistreatment of older
people can develop. Therefore, the main aim of this literature review is to
establish what is currently known about public perceptions of older people and
ageing, describe the factors that influence them, and the consequences of
these perceptions on the lives of older people.
A systematic search of published works was conducted using the Cochrane
databases, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo, and using a variety of search terms
relating to ‘public perceptions‘, ‘older people’ and ‘ageing’. The review is
comprised of relevant articles sourced from the period January 1989 until July
2009.
A review of the literature revealed that older people are sometimes perceived
in a positive light, as active members of the community, loyal, sociable, and
warm. However, negative perceptions tended to predominate. For example,
older people were stereotyped as having poor health with diminishing mental
ability, unattractive, sexless, negative personality traits, unhappy, lonely and
excluded from society.
The review identifies that age, gender, level of knowledge, frequency and type
of contact with older people, cultural influences, modernisation and the media
may be factors which play a role in influencing people’s perceptions. The
perceptions the public hold of older people can impact on the elderly in
employment, education, and health services, and in the general treatment of
older people. Further research is needed to examine public perceptions of
older people, and the nature and direction that they take, so that
interventions can be developed to ensure that older people can and do live a
better quality of life. Recommendations are made for education, policy and
practice.
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