Background
Similar to other attitudes, ageism spreads through the transfer of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination from person-to-person.
Various social phenomena have been analyzed in the context of a social network, but little is known about the spread of ageism through the social network.
As a pre-defined network, the long-term care (LTC) setting can provide valuable insight into an older adult’s social network1 and the spread of ageism.
AIM: to understand the manifestation and spread of ageism in the social network of the LTC setting.
Data and Methods
STUDY 1
Objective: to understand how LTC administrators’ perspectives on providing care are related to paternalistic ideas and attitudes.
Data: qualitative interview data with fifteen LTC-facility administrators collected in the Netherlands in 2017-18.
Analysis: secondary analysis to apply a new focus on autonomy and paternalism using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven.
STUDY 2
Objective: to examine the effect of ageism within a LTC consumer’s social network on the consumer’s ageism and self-ageism.
Data: longitudinal, structured survey data collected from older adults in eight LTC facilities in Israel in 2016 (wave 1) and 2017 (wave 2).
Analysis: secondary analysis using social network clustering and longitudinal regression analysis.
Expected Contributions
Inform policymaking in LTC regarding:
the ageism that exists in the decision-making process at a meso-level
the transfer of ageism at a micro-level
Contribute to the literature on:
the theory of paternalism as a form of ageism
the social network theory of induction in which contacts influence subjects over time
