submitted by: Lori Earnhart, Director of Sales and Marketing, ICP, Inc.
Language plays a crucial role in shaping the culture of aging and aging services in our society. The words we use when talking to and about older persons denote how they are valued, what is expected of them, and where they stand with respect to the speaker. What a person is called creates expectations about their behavior and sets the limits on how much growth and individual identity is deemed possible by those who serve them. The impact of new language is seen as a way of interacting that goes deeper into the core of peoples’ life experience.
The new language will have a positive effect on how elders feel about themselves, how they think, and how functionally able they can be in daily life. Words do indeed make worlds. Part of transforming long-term care practice is finding new words to describe staff, programs, and the industry itself. The language of long-term care belongs to all of us—not only the “us” who work in this field but, at least as importantly, the elders and others with disabilities who require our services, their families, and the public.
People
Old Words |
New Words |
The Elderly
|
Elders, older adults
|
Disabled
|
Person needing support
|
New Admit
|
Neighbor, offered a home here
|
Resident
|
My Friend
|
Bed (100 Bed Facility)
|
100 people live in this home
|
Wanderers
|
People who like to walk
|
Things
Old Words |
New Words |
Activities |
Meaningful things to do |
Nourishment |
Snack |
Soft Food |
Chopped Food |
Bibs |
Napkin, clothing protector |
Diaper, Pull-ups |
Briefs, panties, attends, pad |
Hospital gown |
Pajamas, nightgown |
Places
Old Words |
New Words |
Facility, Nursing Home |
Care Community, Home |
Nurses’ Station |
Work Area, Support Room |
Storeroom |
Pantry |
Unit |
Neighborhood |
Ward, Wing |
Village, street, household |
Bath |
Spa |
Actions
Old Words |
New Words |
Transport |
Assist to . . . .
|
Admit/Place |
Move in
|
Toileting |
Using the bathroom |
Baby-sit |
Resident interaction |
MIA, elopement |
Taking a walk, left building |
Allow |
Help, facilitate, welcome |
Discharge |
Move out |
Attitudes
Old Words |
New Words |
Long-Term Care Industry |
Long-Term Care Community, Profession |
Care Plan Problem |
Resident Strength
|
Problem |
Challenge/opportunity |
That’s not my job |
I’ll take care of that |
Sit down, you’ll fall |
Let’s Walk |
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