The Framing Longevity Project will:
Make waves of change to imagine and reframe ‘age’ to overcome ageism.
Make a difference in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.
Contribute to systems change - WHO Combatting Ageism Global Challenge.
Graphic Global Coalition on Ageing
Ageism limits ourselves and others.
Ageism makes us dread our later lives.
Ageism limits systems from embracing the life journey in policy and place.
Ageism limits Elderhood. It homogenises Elders. It legitimises abuse. It shortens lives.
The Framing Longevity Project positions ageism in a ‘visibility’ frame for action in a COVID-19 context of age precarity, of silenced subjectivity and commodification. Understanding and overcoming ageism is a vital platform for achieving healthy and active ageing in the context of the global age-demographic mega-trend and sustainable development. It is also vital to achieving social inclusion, economic security and stability in efforts to overcome the ravages of COVID-19, poverty and climate change, all of which are driving profound structural shifts in our society. The UN notes that successfully confronting ageism unlocks a wealth of economic, social and individual capacity supporting sustainability.
The world faces complex challenges because our core systems are not working towards sustainable goals.
Shifting these systems is a task beyond any one business, government, NGO or individual. It needs people to work together, to pool skills and resources on a community and global scale, to evolve regenerative solutions that work for people, and for the living systems we rely on. Population-ageing is one of the mega-trend challenges that demand a paradigm shift. This project recognises that we need to grow a community of change agents acting to accelerate the systems change needed to overcome the ‘structural lag,’ to better meet the longevity transformation and position the role of Elders in a place of diversity, dignity, autonomy and respect.
A central issue for everyone is that language embodies our reality, our identity. How did ageing become ‘old’?
Ageism deeply influences our future self, who we will become and the prospects for future generations.
The ageing ‘body’ is inscribed with cultural meaning over the life course.
The COVID-19 pandemic environment is complex, uncertain, pervasive and harms Elders.
Ageism is complex, interlocking and deeply pervasive.
Longevity wellbeing is the new horizon, ko te pae tawhiti.
The Framing Longevity Project is an outcome of phenomenological research that reflects the voice of Elders who shared their ‘lived experience’ of the New Zealand extreme 2020 pandemic lockdown. Further, it reflects a recognition by key Bay of Plenty Aotearoa New Zealand organisations, that ageism influences policy, services and our culture, including the impact of COVID-19 on Elders. This project reflects their leadership and proactive commitment to making a difference.
The Framing Longevity Project is an evidence-based initiative that contributes to global actions to combat ageism, improve pandemic resilience, enhance healthy ageing and improve sustainability.
Longevity is a new horizon, ko te pae tawhiti, for framing policy and place.
The Bay of Plenty region and Tauranga City are experiencing the impact of rapid population-ageing with a falling birthrate and increasing longevity, as people live longer. Many older New Zealanders also choose to come and live in the warmer climate of the Western Bay of Plenty. It is projected that 43% of Tauranga City households (2018 Census) will be residents between 65 and over 100 years of age by 2048. The Bay of Plenty District Health Board estimates that the number of Elders in the Bay of Plenty over 75 years will increase by 229% by 2030. (2013-2030 MOH). The number of people over 85 years in the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region is expected to quadruple by 2030. The Maori population holds a respected place for Elders, Pakeke, Kuia and Kaumatua who are supported by strong youthful whanau and Whanau Ora services. Longevity is limited by ageism, for some by social disconnectedness, poverty, housing stress, transport and preventable chronic conditions.
The challenge is to achieve inclusion and overcome the structural influences and attitudes that place Elders, Pakeke, Kuia, Kaumatua and Matua outside, behind and vulnerable.
Older people died during the pandemic onset. Elders remain anxious at a time when the largest cohort ever born in NZ is reaching later life in a climate of uncertainty and risk.
Longevity demands action to combat ageism within both the personal and political spheres of influence.
Ageism demands action, it is both about ourselves our beliefs about our own and others ageing processes, including the systems that structure the culture of community life.
Ageism refers to:
How we think – stereotypes
How we feel – prejudice
How we act – discrimination
Towards others based on age.
It exists in institutions, relationships and in ourselves.
Ageism can also interact and intersect with other ‘isms’ such as sexism, ableism, and racism, thus exacerbating disadvantage.
WHO 2021 Global Campaign to Combat Ageism