Back in September 2022, the Sciences of Ageing and the Culture of Youth (SAACY) programme held a Policy Lab, in which expert stakeholders examined the evidence and determined that it is valuable, feasible, and acceptable to shift how we view the ageing process. More realistic and optimistic perceptions of ageing and older age are thought to unlock enormous health and social benefits for older people, through greater inclusion and better treatment in society. In order to do this, experts also identified nine stakeholder groups to target – one of which, was the media and creative industries.
In October 2024, I was involved in delivering the second SAACY Policy Lab which looked specifically at engaging the media. A group of 30 experts from the worlds of visual media, advertising, academia, healthcare, policy, charity, and lived experience came together to discuss the question ‘How do we change the way that ageing is represented in advertising, the media, and the creative industries?’ Our aim in shifting representations was not only to shape public perception, but to also understand which stories are listened to and why.
As we sipped our coffee and chatted about where we had travelled in from that morning, the discussions took on an exploratory format. The conversations unfolded, and our thinking diverged and meandered through the multitude of ways in which we can understand ageing, the language we use to talk about it, and what diverse, authentic, and intersectional representations of ageing look like.
The afternoon pivoted towards more focused, convergent thinking, as the group identified some tangible solutions for policy and practice. Lobbying for changes to the editors’ code and building an economic case for shifting representations in advertising presented clear routes to impact, meanwhile some more creative and adventurous proposals included developing a SAACY film prize, storyboarding intergenerational content, and building a culture of ‘complaining better’ to facilitate productive conversations to tackle ageism.