Societal expectations influences the functional abilities and fitness level of older adults. Here’s how this shows up:
Images of older adults lifting only small weights
Message: older people are weak
Images of younger people participating in sports like surfing, rock climbing, and snowboarding.
Message: These sports are not suitable for older people
Age siloed exercise classes with senior, silver, or gold in the name
Message: If you are older, these are the appropriate classes for you
Offering only chair based exercise classes for older adults in senior living communities
Message: You need a chair in order to exercise
Not showing older people in marketing and promotion of all types of physical activities and exercise programs
Message: These programs are not suitable for you
It’s worth considering what we communicating to older adults with images we show and the environments we put them in.
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