Ageing Better images depicting “authentic” older disabled people available to mobility retailers
The Centre for Ageing Better together with Get Yourself Active at Disability Rights UK have launched a new, publicly accessible image library of over 300 photos depicting older and disabled people getting active to challenge pervasive negative stereotypes.
The two organisations are making the bank of images Picture Yourself Active: available to encourage organisations, such as mobility retailers, to move away from damaging unrepresentative imagery and embrace more realistic depictions of later life and disability.
The library contains positive and authentic images of older and disabled people – and the intersectionality between the two – getting active.
Equally, these photos reinforce the important notion, states the charities, that not all disabilities are visible by including a range of experiences that are often not recognised within society.
According to the Centre for Ageing Better current imagery often patronises older and disabled people, showing physical activity as a deviation from the norm, rather than an ordinary part of many people’s lives.
By visibly showing that these activities are not an exceptional event or an afterthought, we hope to create a positive shift in attitudes and an increased understanding of some of the barriers that exist today for such groups.
Disabled people from across the generations were heavily involved throughout to ensure the images are realistic and reflect the lived experience of those the project seeks to benefit.
In December 2021 The Centre for Ageing Better launched a new guide to help organisations to represent ageing in a more positive and realistic way.
The new guide ‘Challenging ageism: A guide to talking about ageing and older age’ was published to help shift ageist stereotypes and language used public life, which harms people and their prospects in later years.
