Las Vegas Sun

June 4, 2012

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Sun editorial:

Addressing older people

Elderspeak is a form of demeaning language that should no longer be tolerated

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

Many people have a habit of addressing elderly individuals as “sweetie” or “dear” or with any number of other phrases known as elderspeak. One wouldn’t normally think about using that language in reference to a 30-year-old, but it’s a different story when the person is 80.

That language can be insulting to older people and, researchers say, can be detrimental to their health.

As reported Tuesday in The New York Times, that is the conclusion of research done to measure elderly individuals’ reaction to elderspeak.

Becca Levy, an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, told the Times that older people who were told they were “forgetful,” “feeble” and “shaky” began performing worse on memory and balance tests and showed high levels of stress. “Those little insults can lead to more negative images of aging,” Levy said. “And those who have more negative images of aging have worse functional health over time, including lower rates of survival.”

Other research found that nursing home residents became less receptive to care when subjected to phrases such as “good girl” and “How are we feeling?”

The lesson to be learned from this is that elderly people, regardless of their health conditions, should be addressed as adults, not children. A 68-year-old police psychologist, Ellen Kirschman of California, told the Times she objected to being called “young lady” because it is disingenuous. “As I get older, I don’t want to be recognized for my age,” she said. “I want to be recognized for my accomplishments, for my wisdom.”

Some of the worst offenders are health care professionals, said Kristine Williams, an associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing. Health care workers should know better. They might be surprised at how much better older people will react to them if they are treated as adults.

Verbal skills are valuable tools that can easily be abused. Elderspeak is an example of that and is a form of demeaning language that should no longer be tolerated.

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