Around 97% of people over the age of 60 say that life as an older person is not better than they thought it would be, according to new research done by Uganda Reach The Aged Association with support from HelpAge International and Voice
On Thursday, 30th July 2020, The Uganda Reach The Aged Association held a national workshop on ageism and rights of older persons at Piato Restaurant where government officials, Older people, media attended
The research was undertaken before the COVID-19 pandemic in six districts and over 541 older persons were interviewed and most older people say they’ve experienced ageism, but a few still hold positive attitudes toward ageing.
All of these kinds of everyday ageism, and many more, are common in the lives of Ugandans over 60, a new survey finds. In fact, more than 97% of those interviewed say they commonly experienced at least one form of ageism in their day-to-day lives.
Everyday ageism is part of Uganda’s culture and one the common and socially condoned forms of prejudice and discrimination – Robert Mukholi, Programme Officer at Uganda Reach The Aged Association said during the national workshop on Ageism
”There is no doubt that it harms the health and wellbeing of older people, yet we don’t have enough data on how older persons experience it and how harmful them but this is the start, we have ambassadors in communities who will continue creating awareness” – Robert Mukholi added
During the workshop, Joseph Mugisha from Help Age International said that there is still a need to increase the advocacy and media plays a big role in the ageism awareness
Here are some of the posts/tweets on social media
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