Whether you are taking this online course as a requirement for a class or out of a personal desire for growth and learning, Understanding Ageism aims to change how you think and feel about older people and aging and is designed to improve your communication with and about older people. Understanding Ageism will prepare you for working with people of various ages—such as customers, clients, patients, and colleagues—because after all, we are all aging. This course is intended for students of all ages and all educational backgrounds.

What You Will Learn:

Whether or not you already work with or plan to work with older people in your professional life, the information that you learn here will help promote an affirmative approach to talking about aging and advance efforts to combat an ageist society. Ageism can be detrimental to all of us as we age. Over time, applying the concepts in this course will have a positive effect on your own life and help promote constructive changes to undo ageism society-wide for people of all ages.

This course will help you to:  

• Define ageism, describe the impact of ageism, and identify examples of ageism in everyday life.
• Distinguish normal aging-related changes from changes associated with disease, disability, or illness and describe societal factors that contribute to population aging.
• Use a variety of strategies to communicate respectfully, effectively, and appropriately with people of all ages.
• Identify the need for and pathways to a variety of careers to address the opportunities and challenges that arise as the population ages.

Course Format:

Understanding Ageism contains four modules:  

• Module 1 is Ageism Explained. The first step in Understanding Ageism is to explore how we learn and develop ageism from early childhood through adulthood and to introduce the concept of ageism awareness. Ageism awareness helps recognize and avoid ageism and protects us against the effects of ageism as we grow older. 

• Module 2 is Foundational Knowledge of Aging. The second step in Understanding Ageism is to learn factual information about older people and the aging process. These facts will help replace ideas we may have about older people that are based on misinformation and implicit bias about aging.  

• Module 3 is Respectful, Effective, & Appropriate Communication. The third step in Understanding Ageism is to learn about and adopt respectful, inclusive communication approaches that do not perpetuate ageism. This part of the training will help foster effective communication with our families, in our communities, and at work. 

• Module 4 is Work and Study in the Field of Aging. The final step in Understanding Ageism is to prepare participants to take the knowledge learned here into future professional and academic efforts. This module helps us recognize that all careers are careers in aging, and we will all do any job better with an understanding of aging, ageism, and how to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of all ages. 

Acknowledgments 

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is grateful for the insights of contributors to Understanding Ageism: Tina M.K. Newsham, PhD, and the National Center to Reframe Aging

GSA is also appreciative of the following individuals for their contributions to the first edition (formerly known as Ageism First Aid) of this training program: Laurinda Reynolds, MA; Tina M. K. Newsham, PhD; and Joann Montepare, PhD, FGSA. Additionally, GSA gratefully acknowledges the RRF Foundation for Aging for their seed support of the first edition. 

© Gerontological Society of America 2026 and all prior years. All rights reserved. 

System Requirements

This course is best viewed using Google Chrome but will work with other active, up-to-date browsers. Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox should not be used. When viewing this course, each module and its subsequent sections will launch in a pop-up window. Please ensure your pop-up blockers are disabled to view the course content. 

Enable Pop-ups

This course launches each module in a pop-up window. If your browser blocks pop-ups, you may be unable to open or complete the course modules.

If you need assistance enabling pop-ups, refer to the instructions for your browser:

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Tip: Most browsers allow you to enable pop-ups only for this course website rather than for all websites. This is the recommended option.

Accessibility

This course is best viewed using Google Chrome and will work with screen reader software and keyboard navigation. 

Certificate of Completion

After completing this introductory course and earning a score of 80% or higher on the post-test, you will be able to download, save, or print your certificate of completion. The certificate is valid for 3 years. Be sure to make note of successfully completing this GSA course, Understanding Ageism, on your resume or CV.

Course Duration and Availability

If you wish to complete the course in one sitting, it will take about 2.5 hours depending on how fast you read the course materials and complete the post-test. You have 120 days to finish the course (and print/save your completion certificate) starting from the day that you register for the course. If you do not finish within 120 days, your enrollment will end automatically, and it will be necessary to enroll and pay the course fee again.

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For the best course experience, we recommend clearing your browser's cache before launching the course. This can help prevent display, navigation, and performance issues.

Need Technical Assistance?

If you experience technical issues while accessing or completing this course, please contact [email protected]. When requesting assistance, include your browser, device, and a brief description of the issue to help us resolve it more quickly.

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