Adding life to years
Login
Join us
Text size:
-+=

Summary

The City of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio joined the Age-Friendly Communities Network in 2016. Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County is managed by the Age-Friendly Innovation Center (AFIC), a program of The Ohio State University, College of Social Work. The community assessment in 2016 and reassessment in 2021 showed that the perception of ageism and negative stereotypes of older adults in the community are concerning. Shifting negative stereotypes around aging has been on the Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County’s first strategic plan and has continued to be an area of commitment since. To address this, AFIC launched #ButtonUpAgeism campaign at the International Federation on Ageing’s Global Conference on Ageing in 2018. Since then, these buttons have been created and shared all over the world, with the beloved phrase by Age-Friendly Innovation Center Assistant Director, Christine Happel, “Aging: So Cool Everyone is Doing It!” To date, well over 3,000 buttons have been created by individuals of all ages and shared around the world. In 2020, a multi-media positive aging campaign was launched with the continuous use of #ButtonUpAgeism on various platforms including community billboards. In 2024, AFIC created a video for the media campaign and had social media release by sharing with partners at local and national level to work together toward creating a community without ageism. The partner organizations were provided with instruction and tips on how and what to post on social media or share through their outreach efforts as part of the campaign.

Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0ajLB_9TI

Key facts

Main target group: Both younger and older people (i.e. intergenerational)

Sector(s): Education, Health, Housing, Information and communication, Labor, Long-term care, Social protection, Transportation, Urban development

Desired outcome for older people:
Build and maintain relationships

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Ageism

Contact details

Name: Marisa Sheldon

Email address: AgeFriendly@osu.edu

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Research institution

How collaboration worked: Collaboration with partner organizations is a key element of the #ButtonUpAgeism campaign as it is practiced through sharing. The sharing of buttons and ideas happens at in-person events, on social media platforms, and through partner organizations existing outreach channels.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: Older adults have always been the center of Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County’s work. We invited older adults to be interviewed for the video released in 2024. The buttons were distributed to many local older adults through various events.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? Yes

Feedback:
We continue to receive positive feedback and constant requests for more buttons with the phrase, “Aging: So Cool Everyone is Doing It!”

Expansion plans:
Yes, working to end ageism will always be central to Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County. The work will continue to grow and evolve as capacity allows.

Looking back

Reflections:
Over the years of creating buttons, creating a ‘no fail’ process has helped. This includes pre-printing the slogan, using materials such as washi tape, and including a sticker on the back to brand the button with our social media handles and #ButtonUpAgeism.

Challenges:
Creating the campaign buttons is a time and labor-intensive process. Each is handmade, thus, this limits the capacity and scope of the work.