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« McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts | Main | Blanchard WinsDays: Honoring our Veterans »

October 7, 2008 |Permalink |Comments (7)

Elderspeak Bigotry

The New York Times gets it...

Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear.”

“People think they’re being nice,” said Elvira Nagle, 83, of Dublin, Calif., “but when I hear it, it raises my hackles.”

Now studies are finding that the insults can have health consequences, especially if people mutely accept the attitudes behind them, said Becca Levy, an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, who studies the health effects of such messages on elderly people.

More Here

People sometimes ask me why I use such precise and careful language when I refer to older people. The answer is that ordinary everyday language is loaded with nasty and demeaning words and phrases...

ChangingAging blog readers.... Thoughts on this issue???

Comments ( 7)

I found it interesting that the article also quotes research on health outcomes and on the quality of nursing home staff-elder interactions and how "eldespeak" negatively affects both. Reinforces the importance of language in shaping both our self-perceptions and our interactions with others. It can be such a powerful tool or such a dangerous weapon!

Posted by Rkadonoff
October 8, 2008 8:29 AM

So I logged in to share the article and find that I've been beaten to the punch.

This article reminds me of some of the basic ideas in "Blink" by M. Gladwell. There the author puts forth that language and subtle cues shape our every day reactions and actions.

Aside from education about the words chosen when interacting with older adults, I wonder what can truly be done to shift the cultural belief that aging=decline=negative.

Posted by Christy B.
October 8, 2008 9:29 AM

I have a pet peeve about the term "adult diapers". Talk about demeaning! Recently I heard a friend refer to them as "disposable underwear", a far more neutral term. So I would like to suggest this as one more bit of language that could stand to be upgraded to something a little more respectful of the people who have that particular health issue.

Posted by Anne
October 8, 2008 11:35 AM

Language is so powerful and is often revealing of a person's (or society's) beliefs and attitudes.

I agree with Dr. Rosebrook's assessment that elderspeak is a form of bullying. Quite interesting that she draws a direct parallel between elderspeak and the "talking down" that occurs to children (perhaps the second-most "dissed" age group in our culture). It implies disrespect and a perceived lack of competence.

Disengenuous terms of endearment are a pet peeve of this 40-something, but can clearly have a significantly more negative impact on those older. Dr. Williams' research findings don't surprise me. My father lived in a VA facility for the last two years of his life. Early on, he was routinely called by his first name or worse (Hon, Sweetie, Dear). It disturbed him a great deal (particularly when the offender was younger than he was). Fortunately, the staff did adjust when our family asked that he be called Mr. Smith. His demeanor and outlook were markedly different thereafter.

Here's hoping that research like this, with documented improved outcomes, will begin to make this a pervasive change in care settings.

Next...society at large!!!

Posted by CC Andrews
October 8, 2008 5:57 PM

Thankfully someone is willing to conduct research on a blatantly declinist behavior that, as the article points out, is practiced MOST OFTEN by elder caregivers!

Though I capitalize and add exclamation to that statement I'm not all that surprised by the research's findings. Prior to encountering the concept of declinism I thought very little about how environment informs behavior (somehow). I'd be interested in seeing a more comprehensive study that deals not just with language and its impacts on the elderly, but also with the innumerable actions that the "old-age archipelago" practices and how those impact the health of our elders.

Posted by Nich
October 8, 2008 10:04 PM

As a professional communicator, this is something I grapple with every day... not so much directly addressing elders - but what do we, as a society, call the population we are serving through our work? Elders? Seniors? Aging? Aged? Old?

Posted by Rachel M.
October 20, 2008 11:49 AM

In preparation for my next class session at the Erickson School, I was re-reading one piece of literature that, I would argue, has had the most impact on my learning as a graduate student. It is an article written by Rose Shields titled "Liminality in an American Nursing Home". The article is a result of a 14-month long research study of a Jewish Nursing Home in the 80's and it describes and attempts to explain the lack of community formation among the residents living there.

The author's premise is that entering and living in a nursing home can be understood as a rite of passage. She argues that the nursing home environment interferes with this process and results in an unresolved "liminal phase". There is no reincorporation into a new role, the only resolution of this rite of passage is the physical act of death.

Her insights as to why nursing home elders are placed in this timeless state of liminality are profound. Here is one of her arguments:

"By equating the aged with children, the staff members transform the threat of death into the familiarity of nurturance. In this way, the nursing home residents are made both unthreateningly familiar, as children, and distantly "other", and staff members are relieved of identification with them. The danger inherent in liminality is thus contained, and the transition for the residents is endless..."

The author gives many examples of how nursing home staff infantilize the residents they care for and the use of "elderspeak" was one such example.

Posted by Dorothea Johnson
November 8, 2008 1:44 PM

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