Aging with Gusto
It’s no secret: our society favors youth and shies away from aging. Prejudice against people as they age comes with a twist: It is discrimination against our future selves.
Aging with Gusto is a set of facilitated discussions offered in your community to address these issues and to give participants tools for living fully as they age.
What we seek to do
Aging with Gusto strives to ignite more positive views of aging–because research shows that people with more positive views live an average of 7.5 years longer than those with less positive views. Our program goals for Aging with Gusto are:
- Encourage more positive views of aging.
- Increase awareness of ageism and its impact on attitudes, behaviors, and experiences with aging.
- Explore how to maintain our well-being and manage challenges as we age.
- Develop ideas for how to “age with gusto.”
What does an Aging with Gusto session look like?
Aging with Gusto is a three-part, interactive series, with each session lasting about 90 minutes. Sessions may be held in person or via an online platform such as Zoom. They are led by trained facilitators.
The sessions include:
- What contributes to your Aging with Gusto?
- How can you recognize and respond to ageism?
- How can you use your values and goals to live a life with gusto?
Bring Aging with Gusto to Your Community
Would you like to bring Aging with Gusto or the more specialized and targeted Confronting Ageism program to your organization or community? Contact us at awg@vital-aging-network.org to schedule a series at a time that works for you.
Positive Views Matter
Whether we’re 6, 60 or 106, aging is happening to all of us…if we’re lucky. That’s not going to change. But what can change is how we view aging and how we treat one another and ourselves as we age.
How we think about our own aging and how we treat others as they age takes on added significance as America and the world age at an unprecedented rate.
Aging with Gusto works to ignite a more positive view of aging. And there’s never been a better time. More and more people are living to 100—and they’re doing so with more “gusto” than ever.
Additional Resources
Look at selected sources to learn more about topics covered in Aging with Gusto