Guidelines for Age-Inclusive Communication

Get the Guidelines for Age-Inclusive Communications!

Ageism shows up in the words we choose. It shows up in the stories we tell and the pictures we use to illustrate our ideas. Our beliefs come out in the way we communicate, sometimes without us even being aware.

woman speaking about ageismThere is something we can do about it. We can practice age-inclusive communication. Fighting ageism begins with understanding and questioning how we talk about aging and older adults. Many of the stories we tell are ageist, promoting stereotypes and devaluing older adults. But, we can intentionally change how we communicate to be more inclusive and tell a more realistic story. If we choose different words and stories, we can change our thinking and our culture.

This can be a lot to process, so we created a short guide to get you started. Our Guidelines for Age-Inclusive Communication provides practical guidance for anyone telling stories about aging and older adults. The guide is for everyone, whether you are speaking with your friends or are a communications professional or journalist.

Want to dig deeper? Reframing aging is based on research and tested concepts. Read more about reframing aging and age-inclusive communication and see how our words, images and stories matter.

Skip to content