Well for Life - emotional wellbeing for older people

1. Well for Life - emotional wellbeing for older people Module 2 24

2. Aims To raise awareness of the importance of emotional wellbeing of older people To integrate emotional wellbeing with nutrition and physical activity To identify opportunities for improving emotional wellbeing in service delivery practice Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing: Module 2

3. Learning objectives At the end of the program participants will be able to: • Identify and discuss the key elements, enablers and barriers to emotional wellbeing of older people • Be familiar with the concept of ageism • Apply knowledge to settings, services and individual cases to facilitate the emotional wellbeing of older people Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing: Module 2

4. Session structure Introduction, aims and objectives Ageism Discussion Case study Action plan Summary Evaluation Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing: Module 2

5. What is ageism? Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation • Holding negative attitudes or beliefs about older people i.e. stereotyping, making judgements based on prejudice • Acting on these stereotypes to treat older people differently from other age groups

6. Ageism in practice Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation Failure to respect and to show respect for older people Under-estimation of the value and capacities of older people, leading to social and financial discrimination Stereotyping contributes to risk of misdiagnosis or poor care decisions Failure to develop the strengths and preserve function in older people

7. Myths or facts? Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation Older people do not have the same social needs as “us” Older people just want to be left alone Older people do not remember what it is like to be young Older people are not interested in sex

8. Health myths or facts? Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation Older people are all sick People need care because they are old Old age is a state of miserable decline “It’s all downhill after 50” “I’d rather be a beautiful corpse”

9. Effects on emotional wellbeing Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation Increased loneliness and isolation Risk of functional decline: physical, cognitive and communicative Loss of confidence Loss of self-esteem Increased sense of powerlessness

10. Challenging stereotypes Well for Life Emotional Wellbeing Module 2 Module 2 - ageism presentation Common myth that “old people are like children” has no foundation Perception that “old people are frail and sick” is not backed by statistics: less than one third of people aged 80-84 years need care assistance Person-centred care means “doing with” rather than “doing for”