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PAGE 18 HOME & LIFEStYLE MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020
HOARDING PARENt / CONtINUED FROM PAGE PB may underline hoarding tendencies and make a national database of qualified resources
it easier for your parent to confront the including cleaning companies and thera-
If your parent has a bigger, more serious disorder. pists that can help. ISI
hoarding problem (if daily functioning is To learn more and find professional
impaired, or if your parent is having financial help, see the International OCD Foundation, Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box
difficulties, health problems, or other issues which provides a hoarding center on 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org.
because of hoarding) you’ll need to seek their website Hoarding.iocdf.org. The Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show
professional help. Antidepressants and/or site offers information, resources, treat- and author of The Savvy Senior.
talk therapy can help address control issues, ments, self-help groups, and more. Also
anxiety, depression, and other feelings that see HoardingCleanup.com, a site that has
Ageism is not funny
The World Health Organization
BY MELISSA MARtIN, PH.D., LPCC-S (WHO) formally defines ageism as the
stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimina-
By writing humorous columns and tion towards people on the basis of age.
articles about aging, I encourage oldsters In 2016, a global campaign to combat
(including myself) to laugh and poke ageism began to percolate. Ageism hap-
fun at the changes that accompany our pens around the globe as well.
birthdays. However, ageism is not funny. BOOKS ON AGING AND AGEISM
Betty White, an actress who is as “From childhood on, we’re barraged
sassy and playful as the day is long, Ageism is defined as the stereotyping, prejudice, and by messages that it’s sad to be old. That
celebrated her 98th birthday in January discrimination toward people on the basis of age. Now, wrinkles are embarrassing, and old peo-
2020. And Hollywood better not try 50 years after the enactment of the Age Discrimination in ple useless.” Author Ashton Applewhite
Employment Act of 1967 —which promotes emplyment of
ageism with her. You’ve got to watch her older workers based on ability—age discrimination is still believed them too—until she realized
“I’m Still Hot” music video on YouTube. commonly accepted. © VectorMine, Bigstock.com. where this prejudice comes from and the
You go Golden Girl! damage it does.
According to a 2018 AARP report, 64 per- as prejudicial attitudes toward older people, Her book, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto
cent of women said they’d been the target old age, and the aging process; discrimi- Against Ageism (2016), explains the roots of
of or had witnessed age discrimination. natory practices against older people; and ageism in history. It looks at ageism in the
Ageism is a term coined by Robert institutional practices and policies that workplace and the bedroom and critiques
Butler (founding director of the National perpetuate stereotypes about older people. the portrayal of olders as burdens to society.
Institute on Aging) in 1969. He described it The Age Discrimination in Employment The author concludes with a rousing call
Act of 1967 (the federal law that protects to action.
Capital We Are workers and job applicants 40 and over Women Rowing North: Navigating
Careful
T R A N S F E R & S T O R A G E from age-based bias in employment) had Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We
TRANSFER & STORAGE
its 50th anniversary in 2018. But, ageism
Age (2019), by Mary Pipher, examines
Local Moving Specialist lives on in the USA. the cultural and developmental issues
Celebrating 70 Years A 2018 report by the Equal Employment women face as they age. Pipher is a
In Business Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proclaimed 71-year-old psychologist.
1316 Bozeman Street “Despite decades of research finding that The 2020 Aging in America Conference
Helena • 406-442-3970 age does not predict ability or performance, (sponsored by The American Society on
employers often fall back on precisely the Aging) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia,
Little Timber Quilts & Candy ageist stereotypes the ADEA was enacted March 24-27. The American Society
Bonnie Ferguson to prohibit. After 50 years of a federal law on Aging is an association of diverse
whose purpose is to promote the employ- individuals bound by a common goal: to
ment of older workers based on ability, age support the commitment and enhance
406.932.6078 | ltquilts.com discrimination remains too common and the knowledge and skills of those who
Open Monday–Saturday 10–5:30 too accepted.” seek to improve the quality of life of
108 McLeod St • Big Timber
According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity older adults and their families (www.
Commission, almost a quarter of all claims asaging.org).
Stop in & try our Janome Sewing Machines
filed by workers are “We contain all the ages we have ever
related to age-based been.”— Anne Lamott. MSN
discrimination
(www.eeoc.gov). Melissa Martin, Ph.D, is an author, columnist, edu-
cator, and therapist. She lives in Ohio.
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