Changing the “Conventional Wisdom” on Aging: the Reframing Aging Initiative Moves Forward

By Executive Director and CEO James Appleby, BSPharm, MPH

I recently had the opportunity to brief 30 members of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations on the new Reframing Aging initiative that GSA and seven colleague organizations have championed with the extraordinary support of nine forward-thinking funders.

This initiative is based on research conducted by The FrameWorks Institute that found the public’s perception of aging differs markedly from what we as experts and advocates in the field know to be true. FrameWorks has developed and tested strategies and tools for changing the narrative around aging that address ageism and garner increased support for aging issues.

While the necessary research and program development for this important initiative has been in the works for a couple of years, in many ways I see this as just the beginning. Perhaps commencement is the best analogy? We’ve worked hard to earn the right to be reframers, and now we begin to move forward collectively to make it happen.

Changing cultural attitudes is not a small endeavor, but we have to start, playing our appropriate stewardship role as researchers, practitioners, and educators in the aging field. If you haven’t yet reviewed the research underpinning this program or the toolkit developed to operationalize the findings, please do so at. GSA will be hosting a half-day training this spring on how to use the tools developed. If you’re interested in learning more about Reframing Aging, please let us know.