The roll of mass media in health related - issues of aging

The paper shows the importance of mass media in health promotion of elderly people. Describes some adverse myths of aging, emphasizes that the misconceptions about old age represent a major breakthrough for health care of older people. Unfortunately health issues in old age are often neglected by most health education campaigns. The mass media are a pervasive, powerful and popular source of information in all modern societies and can profoundly influence health-related beliefs and behaviours. Several studies have shown that the public obtains most of its health information from mass media. Evidence is beginning to emerge that, certainly for well educated, affluent older people morbidity is already being compressed and that healthy ageing may be achievable for some. Older adults who make healthier choices live longer and better lives. The aim of this paper is to activate the mass medial experts for more comprehensive health promotion campaigns of elderly people.