Practice Tools
September 2008
Source: Mount Sinai Hospital
Produced by the BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses (2005).
"Two hard realities of some older women’s lives, as with some younger women, are poverty and abuse. Older women continue to be one of the poorest groups in Canada in terms of average income. Sole support women sixty-five and older have lower incomes than people in any other age-gendered group over 24 years. Many of these women have outlived husbands, have worked in low paying jobs or been full time homemakers. (Statistics Canada 1999) As with their younger sisters, far too many older women are subjected to physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse, and denial of human rights. Older women victims of abuse and violence need many of the same services and support as their younger sisters. However, there are important age and health differences among generations of women that affect delivery of outreach, education, shelter and support services. The purpose of this publication is to provide information and resource suggestions to help in the delivery of support groups for older women."
Source: BC Society of Transition Houses
"Ageism is the stereotyping of older adults based on chronological age. It is a form of prejudice and discrimination similar to racism and sexism, which allows younger generations to view older adults as separate from mainstream society. Ageist language and imagery often leads to stereotypes of older adults as weak, frail and disabled. In contrast, there are also positive stereotypes of aging, when people assume that all older adults are wise or caring. Ageism includes prejudice (stereotypes and attitudes), personal discrimination (behaviours), and institutional discrimination (policies and practices). The Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) is a self-report measure of the frequency and type of ageist behaviors. ROPE is a 20-item questionnaire that measures personal discrimination through 14 statements that reflect negative types of ageism, and 6 statements that reflect positive types of ageism."
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