Report From the Conference “Ageing in Europe: Towards More Inclusive Societies, Research and Policy

Abstract

The Research Network on Ageing in Europe (RN01) of the European Sociological Association organised the 6th Midterm Conference of the network in Vienna from 13-15 July 2022. The conference was opened by Liat Ayalon’s keynote speech, which discussed the concept of ageism with illustrations from several fields such as long-term care, the relationship between older people and everyday technology and climate change policy, etc. Ageism is defined as stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination against people based on their chronological age. Most concern is raised by practices of ageism that discriminate against a specific age group, but ageism can also mean positive discrimination and can be directed towards people of any age. The keynote lecture highlighted that the Covid pandemic has exacerbated ageism. Older people were depicted as vulnerable groups and as a burden to society. In terms of long-term care, research has found that residents’ voices in US nursing homes were excluded in reporting about the pandemic. Ageist practices have also surfaced in the area of health-care triage decisions and vaccination policies.