How do you overcome ageism in today’s society? Corinne Aumen, Ph.D. joins us for a conversation to talk about ageism and her new book, “Keenagers”. She is the founder of Choice Care Navigators based out of Greensboro, NC, where her company is dedicated to helping families navigate the aging process. Her passion lies in helping us reshape how we perceive older adulthood, a vision she has beautifully encapsulates in her book “Keenagers”. She is on a mission to change the conversation around aging. Especially in a culture where many avoid thinking about older adulthood until the last minute, she urges us to embrace aging in a positive light. During our conversation, Corrine explained where ageism comes from and how we have the largest demographic of people over 65 years of age with 10,000 people daily turning 65 and the highest number of people wanting or needing to continue to work. Research shows that those living a powerful and purposeful life gain a longer life by at least 7 ½ years. If we don’t have purpose that is when we start to see that negative downhill effect usually after the 18-month honeymoon phase. Dr. Becca Levy shares a lot of research and stats on ageism and more about the impact of the 7 ½ years. Corinne urges us to get educated and to better understand that living with purpose helps increase our vitality but also how older generations impact business and healthcare. She speaks with us about stereotypes and how what we say matters. Some of those stereotypes in business might include things like:Older people can’t learn.Older workers cost more money.Work is too much for them.But the benefits of keeping older adults include:Maintaining a strong knowledge bank.The social acumen.Etc.If we take an example like technology, the older generation is being left out and with having the largest population ever in an older demographic, this becomes highly impactful. Especially when a youngster is creating apps and algorithms’ s that are focused on a specific demographic. And with the acceleration of AI (Artificial Intelligence) it’s even more important to influence the knowledge of older generations to help us shape correctly and with fewer biases.Healthcare is another area that is impacted greatly as we will often hear doctors explain things away because of age versus the actual problem at hand. It becomes imperative that you advocate for yourself or at least have someone with you to help advocate and get the answers you need. Corinne urges us to educate and arm ourselves for the day that each of us will eventually get to, ageism impacts everyone and we owe it to ourselves to prepare and enter it prepared. If you have questions for Corinne that we did not answer in this podcast you can find her on her social feeds on IG, FB, and LI. Want to know who has been on our most recent podcast or want to learn more about our community events, visit us at www.wilempowered.com and sign up for our monthly newsletter. And if you found this episode interesting please do share with your family and friends, and don’t forget to leave us a review. #ageism #olderadults #wordsmatter #wiltalk #wilempowered

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