Auto-Gerontology: A Personal Odyssey.

The four leading theories of optimal aging are activity, continuity, successful aging, and selective optimization with adaptation. All tend to support the slogan, "Use it or lose it." I have tried to continue using my abilities in four key areas: professional, volunteer, personal relationships, and physical fitness. Ageism also has become personal for me because I have made it a personal priority to do what I can to reduce ageism. This includes research and writing, developing a list of 45 advantages to aging, avoiding ageist jokes and language, developing positive slogans about aging, maintaining personal fitness, going on birthday adventures, and being proud of my age (85). I close with answers to some questions about auto-gerontology.

The Duke Center for the Study of Aging: one of our earliest roots.

The Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development (Duke CFA) was established by a multidisciplinary group of visionary scientists in 1955. It is the oldest continually operating center or institute dedicated to aging in the United States. This article outlines the origins of the Duke CFA and summarizes the major research initiatives conducted in its early years. The primary focus is on these landmark studies and their legacies. Those studies made important initial contributions to the knowledge base, introduced measurement tools and research designs that became standards in the field, and served as the impetus for later and current research. The hallmarks of these studies are their multidisciplinary foundations and their focus on the health and well-being of older adults. The Duke CFA's current research clearly builds upon the goals, insights, and empirical results of previous research initiatives. Although aging research is and has been the bedrock of the Duke CFA, developing services responsive to the needs of older adults and multidisciplinary training have also been hallmarks of the Duke CFA. Duke's Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Clinic was established in 1974 and remains a national model for geriatric assessment. Our postdoctoral research training program has graduated more than 200 scholars and our Geriatric Fellowship program has graduated 113 geriatricians. Many of our graduates have exemplary careers in aging, contributing to important research advances, providing care to thousands of older adults, serving as leaders in the field, and training new generations of gerontologists and geriatricians.

Self-reported ageism in social work practitioners and students.

In this study, we focus on self-reported ageism in college students and social service providers using the Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE; Cherry & Palmore, 2008). The ROPE is a 20-item questionnaire that measures positive and negative ageist behaviors that people engage in during everyday life. Participants included undergraduate and graduate social work students and practicing social service providers in the nursing home and mental health setting. Findings indicate that people of varying educational backgrounds and occupational experience in social services readily admit to positive ageist behaviors. Item analyses revealed similarities and differences between groups in the most and least frequent forms of ageism endorsed. Ageism as a social phenomenon with implications related to social work policy and practice is discussed.

Ageism in Canada and the United States.

To compare the prevalence of ageism in Canada and the United States, in Canada, the Ageism Survey was published in the CARPnews Report on Ageism, and in the United States, the Survey was administered to a convenience sample and published in the Center Report and Fifty Plus. Most respondents in both countries perceived ageism as frequent, but it was reported more often in Canada than in the United States. If the Ageism Survey is used to measure the prevalence of ageism among various groups and countries, we can develop an "epidemiology of ageism" and begin to reduce ageism.