Brief History
The National Center to Reframe Aging began as an initiative in 2012, when eight national aging organizations gathered to address the entrenched ageism in American society. With support from nine funders, the organizations collaborated with the social science research firm FrameWorks Institute to examine exactly what the American public thinks of aging.
Research found that the public’s perception of aging is decidedly negative and antithetical to how most older people feel and what experts in the field know to be true. In this first phase of the project, the research was conducted and the communication strategies, resources, and tools developed and tested, making way for the next phase of the work beginning in April 2019. The movement to reframe aging has since grown exponentially, becoming the National Center to Reframe Aging in 2022, the central hub for the movement to reframe aging.
The National Center works with organizations and communities, at the local and national level, to advance and enhance the way we talk and think about aging. The National Center is the preeminent organization for proven strategies to effectively frame aging, promote a greater understanding of aging and implicit bias; ultimately guiding our nation’s approach to ensuring supportive policies and programs for all of us as we age. The National Center is led by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) on behalf of the Leaders of Aging Organizations.
Funders of the first phase of the Reframing Aging Initiative were: AARP, Archstone Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, Endowment for Health, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Retirement Research Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation.
Contact us at reframingaging@geron.org to learn more.