Why a Becca Levy Book Club?
At Changing the Narrative, we found that when we introduced Dr. Becca Levy’s research into our workshops on Reframing Aging, Ending Ageism Together and Age-Inclusive Healthcare, people paid attention. They understood WHY it was important for all of us to cultivate positive attitudes about aging and act to end ageism. Hence, the Breaking the Age Code Book Club, where you can dig into the book that presents her research.
Essentially, Dr. Levy’s research over the years has established that how we think about aging affects our:
- Physical and mental health
- Cognitive abilities
- Likelihood of developing dementia
- Life span
- And lots more related to our quality of life as we age.
Her findings have been replicated by researchers around the world.
So when Becca Levy reached out to our Director, Janine Vanderburg, to help publicize her new book, Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You Live, we were on it! At Changing the Narrative, we truly believe that this book is revolutionary and provides the essential reasons WHY anyone, of any age, ought to care about ending ageism.
Encouraging more people to read it clearly advances our end game, which is in short: Ending Ageism Together!
We started by hosting a conversation with Dr. Becca Levy in May 2022, as part of our Older Americans Month programming. Over 600 people registered. Many of you wanted to discuss the book and the implications of Dr. Levy’s research on our lives, so we’ve hosted book club conversations in partnership with Denver Public Library and NextFifty Initiative.
The Toolkit to Host Your Own Conversation
After we did a book club discussion, you asked these questions:
• Can we host our own Breaking the Age Code Book Club conversations?
• Would you share the tools you’ve developed?
And the answer is a resounding YES! In fact, we’ve set a goal for what we are calling the Becca Levy Book Club campaign of having 100 people download the toolkit we’ve created and host their own Breaking the Age Code Book Club conversations by the end of 2022.
These conversations can take place in your home, community center, library—anywhere that people gather. And they can take place virtually—so far, ours have, drawing participants from around the country.
What will you find in the Becca Levy Book Club toolkit?
- Sample questions for your discussion
- A sample facilitator run-of-show for a virtual session with breakout rooms
- Some facilitator tips
- Graphics that you can use to publicize your event.
And—if you’d like to open up your book club discussion to the public, just fill out this calendar form, and we’ll make sure it’s up on our website as well.
So take a moment now, and fill out this form to download the toolkit.
Want to learn more about the book before you commit?
Go to Becca’s site to read some of the reviews. And this review by our friend and colleague social gerontologist Jeanette Leardi sums up the book, as well as why we all should read it, really well.