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Abstract
This manuscript provides a first-person narrative review of the author's research exploring age-based oppression, including the story of how these ideas developed in cultural and historical context. Projects reviewed in this paper began from a wish to better understand potential factors impacting the geropsychology workforce shortage. Over time, research has expanded to encompass other questions related to ageism, adultism, discomfort with death, and media representations of emerging adults and older adults at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A measure of adultist concerns is also described along with findings from several studies using this scale. Qualitative comments from graduate students in psychology and counseling are reviewed through the lens of adultism, suggesting multiple connections between students' lack of interest in working with older adults, adultist concerns, and attitudes about intergenerational relationships. Lastly, discussion questions and learning activities are suggested to help educators engage the topic of age-based oppression in a variety of settings.
Keywords: adultism, ageism, generational solidarity, age-based oppression
Introduction
Within the field of psychology, geropsychology is a niche specialty focused on the mental health of older adults. Only about 1-2% of psychologists specialize in this area (Moye et al., 2019), and I am one of them. I am a clinical psychologist primarily serving older adults, as well as an associate professor and the geropsychology concentration director within a clinical psychology doctoral program.
This is a story that begins with an extraordinary workforce shortage. There is a striking paucity of geropsychologists available to serve the rapidly growing population of older adults (Hoge et al., 2017). Many in the field of geropsychology are attempting to understand what keeps students away from this specialty, and how to better attract more clinicians to serve this population. Papers on the topic have dramatic, and entirely appropriate, titles invoking a "big shortage" that is a "crisis" requiring "urgent action" (Merz et al., 2017; Jeste et al., 1999; Moye et ak, 2019).
In research thus far, I have zeroed in on adultism as a potential contributor to students' lack of interest in serving older adults. In this paper, I will share how I came to this understanding. I will review key findings of past projects and take a fresh look at existing data through the lens of adultism....