Discourse of successful aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical gerontology

While the determinants of successful aging receive much attention from researchers, few studies have considered media portrayals of successful aging. Yet the mass media shape the agenda for discussing and understanding aging and transmit the meanings and various experiences of aging between generations. Through thematic analysis of 146 articles featuring older adults in various contexts including family, work, civic engagement, social policy, health care, consumer market, and leisure published in The Globe & Mail in 2004–2006, this paper explores stereotypes of successful aging. Drawing on the insights from critical gerontology and critical discourse analysis, this study suggests that the three themes in the media discourse of successful aging (successful aging as an individual choice, individual responsibility for unsuccessful aging, and how to age successfully by staying engaged) embody the neo-liberal principles of containing the costs of eldercare and maximizing individual effort and responsibility for managing risks of disease and decline in later life.