Ageism: Where It Comes From and What It Does

According to the United Nations, the number of older-age adults across the world has almost quintupled in the last 65 years and by 2050 1 in 6 people in the world will be over the age of 65, up from 1 in 11 in 2019. Among the main drivers of the exponential growth in the older population in developed countries have been increases in the quality of life and life expectancy accompanied by decreases in infant mortality and birth rates, advances in combatting chronic diseases of middle age and beyond (i.e., cardiovascular problems and cancer) and early successes in what is expected to be a revolution in addressing diseases and conditions typically associated with old age using a variety of tools including better nutrition, medical care, education, technology, sanitation and socio-economic support. Crucially, greater life expectancy in wealthier countries has been accompanied by a "compression in morbidity", which refers to the health-related quality of life before death, and researchers are claiming that people "will be healthier for even longer". This aging of the population opens up opportunities, but also presents challenges to governments, society and older persons themselves. The World Health Organization has called for engagement around four action areas: "change how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing; ensure that communities foster older people's abilities; deliver person-centered integrated care and services that respond to older people's needs; and provide access to long-term care for older people who need it". In order for these efforts to be successful, it is essential to have a better understanding of aging, how it is measured and experienced by older persons in their day-to-day lives and how deeply engrained personal and institutional ageism in society creates barriers to progress that harm everyone, not just those persons who are on the receiving end of discrimination and stereotyping.

This book was written by Alan S. Gutterman, whose prolific output of practical guidance for legal and financial professionals, entrepreneurs and investors has made him one of the best-selling individual authors in the global legal publishing marketplace. His cornerstone work, Business Transactions Solution, is an online-only product available and featured on Thomson Reuters' Westlaw, the world's largest legal content platform, which includes almost 200 book-length modules covering the entire lifecycle of a business. Alan has also authored or edited over 100 books on sustainable entrepreneurship, leadership and management, business transactions, international business and technology management for a number of publishers including Thomson Reuters, Practical Law, Kluwer, Oxford, Quorum, ABA Press, Aspen, Euromoney, Business Expert Press, Harvard Business Publishing and BNA. Alan has extensive experience as a partner and senior counsel with internationally recognized law firms counseling small and large business enterprises in the areas of general corporate and securities matters, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, international law and transactions and strategic business alliances, and has also held senior management positions with several technology-based businesses including service as the chief legal officer of a leading international distributor of IT products headquartered in Silicon Valley and as the chief operating officer of an emerging broadband media company. He has been an adjunct faculty member at several colleges and universities, including Berkeley Law, Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco, teaching classes on corporate finance, venture capital and law and economic development, He has also launched and oversees projects relating to sustainable entrepreneurship and ageism. He received his A.B., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, a D.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and a Ph. D. from the University of Cambridge. For more information about Alan and his activities, please contact him directly at alangutterman@gmail.com, follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangutterman/) and visit his website at alangutterman.com.