Implementing Change
Changing the Narrative is at its heart a movement for social change. And we know that for many of you who are working in aging and/or on social justice issues, this will mean organizational change as well—persuading people to abandon ways that they have historically communicated about aging, ageism and older people for more productive ways. Here are some resources to help you.
- A favorite book on change is Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. Don’t have time to read the full book right now? This summary outlines the key points.
- During our three-hour training workshops, we have been not only covering the Reframing Aging materials, but also encouraging people to set specific goals around the steps they are going to take, and to consider situations that may arise as they seek to change organizational culture and messaging and to plan a response. Read pages 6-7 of Joining Vision and Action’s white paper on achieving goals for more information on how to do this.
Organizations Whose Work is Changing the Narrative
We love these groups that, in the very nature of their work, are changing the narrative about aging.
- Encore.org is building a national movement to tap the skills and experience of those in midlife and beyond to improve communities and the world. Their resources pages has terrific resources for encore seekers as well as employers who want to tap into encore talent.
- The Reframing Aging research found that talking about Intergenerational Community Centers as a specific solution to increase community involvement among older people was highly effective at reducing “us vs. them” thinking, and increasing support for policies that expand opportunity for older people and policies that support an aging population. Generations United is a great resource for information on intergenerational programs, and Second Acts for Strong Communities is a terrific example of programs in action.