Given the graying of America and the current attitudes held by society about older people, the educational opportunities to Extension abound.This study reports the results of one approach.We live in a youth-oriented society."Being young" is preferred to "being old" and "getting old"isn't something individuals want to happen to them.Numerous research efforts have documented the fact that all segments of society hold negative attitudes toward aging and the aged.'The literature also suggests that the attitudes others hold toward older people are critical for the adjustment and, perhaps, even the survival of older people!The attitudes of others appear to affect the older adult's own self-image, feelin s of adequacy and usefulness, and attitudes toward living.Negative views of aging, life in general, and the self may result in an unwillingness or inability on the part of the elderly to seek needed services, health care, and other types of help.
Glass et al. (Sun,) studied this question.