Effectiveness of an education intervention in reducing self- and other-directed ageism: a pre-/post- pilot study

Ageism is a serious and growing social issue experienced throughout the world. While education interventions have been shown to effectively address ageism, accessible education interventions targeted to the general public are few. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of a freely available, short, self-directed online ageism course ('Challenging Ageism') in reducing self- and other-directed ageism amongst the general public. Utilising a pre- and post- intervention design, the study measured change in (1) self-directed ageism through the Brief Aging Perception Questionnaire (BAP-Q) and (2) other-directed ageism via the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA). Self-selecting participants aged 18 years and over (n = 39, F = 92.3%, 51.3% aged 50 + years) were a subset of those enrolled in the course over a six-month period from July to December of 2023. Change in the outcome measures pre- and immediately post-course were analysed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test for related samples. Significant reductions were obtained between the pre- and post-course test results for self-directed (p = .003) and other-directed (p < .001) ageism, along with several ageism sub-scale measures. While further research with long follow-ups is needed, these findings show promise for addressing ageism with scalable, broad-based solutions that are accessible to all.