Positive Approach to Aging

A few days ago I read about a website that offers positive aging birthday cards. The cards are part of a project based out of Colorado, Changing the Narrative: Ending Ageism Together, which "is a strategic communications and awareness campaign to increase understanding of ageism and to shift how Coloradans think about aging."  Here's more info about the Colorado campaign:

Changing the Narrative in Colorado builds on five years of national work initiated by eight leading aging organizations that recognized a shared challenge: that what they were seeking to communicate about aging and ageism, and the social challenges and opportunities posed by demographic change, was not getting through in the way intended to the general public. They engaged FrameWorks Institute to research how the public thinks about aging and ageism, and to test messages that could shift thinking in a positive direction. This resulted in a toolkit and training trainers who could teach others effective ways of communication about aging and ageism. Read more about the organizations and funders involved in the national effort here.

Changing the Narrative in Colorado is one of two efforts [1] currently underway to bring this evidence-based messaging and communications about aging and ageism to regional audiences.

[1] The other is an effort in Northern New England by the Endowment for Health and Maine Community Foundation to build communications capacity through in-person and online training in reframing aging.

Now, about the birthday cards...  The project is called the "Anti-ageist Birthday Card Project" where the organization "selected a diverse group of Colorado artists to design anti-ageist birthday cards. The designs defy negative views of aging and celebrate the joys of getting older. ... It’s time to celebrate the fact that we get to age."

There are a number of designs available for purchase, all of which may be viewed here.  For more information about why positive aging birthday cards are so important in the fight against ageism, read the blog post available here.