Let’s End Ageism Together

Context

Ageism affects all of us, particularly as we grow older. It can manifest in the form of unfair age stereo-types, unequal opportunities or exclusion from social participation. Experiences with ageism can have far-reaching negative effects, undermining physical health, well-being and self-esteem.

Ageism is therefore a societal challenge and stands in direct contrast to the goal of healthy and self-determined ageing – a goal that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations have been actively promoting since 2016. As part of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), 194 WHO member states have committed to combating ageism and have launched a global campaign. Exam-ples from several countries worldwide, such as the Australian initiative “Every Age Counts”, demon-strate how national projects can make a meaningful impact.

Research in Switzerland shows that ageism is one of the most frequently experienced forms of discrim-ination. Yet, ageism remains under-recognized in everyday life, and there is still little structured action to better understand and counteract it.

About the project

Through this participatory project, a previously fragmented field of action in Switzerland is being de-veloped in a coordinated way, with the overarching goal of analysing, understanding and reducing ageism. It pursues four main goals to create both scientific and societal impact:

1. Provide accessible educational resources on ageism and raise awareness in Swiss society.
2. Build a community (online and offline) that connects diverse stakeholders (from public and private sectors), fosters dialogue between generations, and gives a voice to people affected by ageism in their daily lives.
3. Advance interdisciplinary research on ageism using real-world data and state-of-the-art ana-lytical approaches.
4. Advise policymakers with evidence-based recommendations and guidelines.

A central element is the accessible online platform jedesalter.ch, which brings together these goals in one place: it offers tailored educational content, allows people to share personal experiences with ageism and age inclusion, and enables active participation within a dedicated community.

Impact and goals

• Raising awareness and knowledge: The project offers accessible learning to challenge stereotypes, foster empathy, and promote understanding of ageing. This equips people to recognise and counter ageism in everyday life.
• Creating spaces for exchange: It builds a community linking diverse stakeholders and generations, amplifying voices and strengthening collective action.
• Generating new knowledge: A participatory online platform gathers and analyses real-life experiences, filling critical data gaps in Switzerland.
• Informing change: Insights lead to practical solutions and evidence-based recommendations, guiding policies that promote equality for all ages.

Project phases

1. Phase 1 – Co-Design of the Digital Platform jedesalter.ch: Seven individuals aged 60+ co-designed the platform with an interdisciplinary research team, ensuring accessibility, relevance, and user-friendliness from the start. Their input anchored the project in lived experience and inclusivity. We are done with this phase with the digital platform live: jedesalter.ch
2. Phase 2 – Community Building and Data Collection: We are currently in phase 2 of the project. The platform jedesalter.ch is now open to citizens of all ages, with a focus on creating a vibrant, engaged community. Citizens can share personal experiences of ageism and/or age inclusion, read others’ contributions, decide to volunteer in the project or join awareness-raising activities. Targeted outreach and volunteer involvement help broaden participation, ensuring that the platform represents diverse voices and perspectives. Citizens can also access learn-ing resources to better understand ageism, avoid it in their own actions, and help raise awareness by sharing knowledge with others.
3. Phase 3 – Data Analysis, Action, and Recommendations: All data (i.e. shared experiences) are analysed to identify patterns, contexts, and solutions. These in-sights inform practical actions and the development of evidence-based recommendations for policy-makers, institutions, and communities.

Participate in the project

Ageism affects people of all ages – which is why everyone is invited to participate in this project. While the focus is on people in the second half of life, as ageism can have particularly severe effects on health, well-being, participation, and equal opportunities in older age, the project also seeks to strengthen intergenerational collaboration and bring different age groups together.

Participation is possible at any time via the digital platform jedesalter.ch. Citizens can share personal experiences and observations of ageism and/or age inclusion in an open text format. Texts can de-scribe where unfair age stereotypes and discrimination occur, or where positive attitudes and inclu-sion are practised. Citizens can decide whether their contributions are used a) exclusively for research or b) also published on the platform to inspire and raise awareness among others.

By participating, individuals help make ageism visible, contribute to a better scientific understanding of the phenomenon, and inspire societal change. All contributions are analysed to identify patterns, contexts, and impacts of ageism, and the findings feed into awareness campaigns, educational re-sources, and evidence-based policy recommendations.

In addition to sharing experiences, citizens can engage on the platform jedesalter.ch raising aware-ness in their own communities, inviting others to join the platform, or volunteering in various roles within the community to promote age inclusion and help implement actions.