In our country, in recent years, the figures for abuse and discrimination against the elderly have been increasing, which has intensified as a result of the confinement and distancing measures enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the prejudices that exist towards people over 60 years of age, thus creating a rather negative social image towards old age.
The social image of old age is closely related to the ideas that society has built about aging and old age, and the assessment they make of it. And today, June 15, 2022, we invite you to reflect on this topic.
Because it transmits values, beliefs and stereotypes, the veracity of which cannot be assured, facilitating the construction of social representations and imaginaries about older people that are passed on and shared. Creating and promoting positive or negative social images towards older adults.
Nowadays, social images of old age are associated more with a perspective of vulnerability and charity, since there is a tendency to define and conceive it as a vital stage of loss, establishing the idea that old age is therefore a stage of fragility, illness, abandonment and that it is experienced in the same way by everyone.
These beliefs are deeply rooted in our society, directly influencing how people construct their own perceptions about being and experiencing old age, even from a very early age.
In this sense, nowadays, the use of language that does not discriminate, infantilize or minimize older people is crucial, both when talking about them and when addressing them, also allowing greater equity and visibility for this group, safeguarding and guaranteeing participation opportunities for all older people.
Below we present a “Decalogue for the use of Good Language in the framework of the World Day of Awareness of Abuse and Mistreatment in Old Age” , which contains 10 key concepts to consider.
The recommendations you will find here are a compilation developed by the Por un Bien Mayor project team and are based on the guidelines provided by the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons, which Chile ratified in 2017, also inspired by the great work developed by Voces Mayores in its 2021 Guide for the Use of Good Language.
To begin, it will be important to clarify some concepts, as we reviewed in the first blog, aging is a progressive, irreversible and individual process of physical, psychological and social changes that occur from the moment we are born, causing different modifications throughout the entire life cycle of a person, therefore we all age day by day.
While old age is a socially constructed stage of life based on personal and collective expectations and norms, consequently all people age differently, depending on the way they have lived.
Therefore, it is important to take into consideration that all people age differently , depending on the way they have lived, so it is correct to talk about “old age” and not just old age.
This is how old age is constituted as the most heterogeneous and diverse stage of the human life cycle, and according to the World Health Organization it begins when a person reaches 60 years of age.
The most up-to-date and correct concept to refer to people aged 60 and over is older people , as it incorporates the gender approach and the rights approach.
You can also use “adulta” or “adulta mayor” depending on whether you want to refer to a woman or an older man.
Don't refer to them as elderly or old people, as this infantilises them. Also don't use the term grandparents or grandmas, as this pigeonholes them into a single social role. In addition, this word is used to name people who have grandchildren, and not all older people have them. Instead, address them by their name or by the nickname they like best.
On the other hand, did you know that senile dementia does not exist? This is an philippines mobile number obsolete and misused concept, since this condition should not be associated only with old age, as it can develop at any age. Instead, we use the concepts of “major neurocognitive disorder” and/or “type…” dementia. The most common dementia is Alzheimer's, but there are other types that are not associated only with memory loss.
Another concept that is obsolete, but is still widely used, is “bedridden” ; this refers to those people who require support from a third party in all or almost all activities of daily living, that is, to eat, bathe, walk, among others. Instead, we suggest using the concept of “severely dependent people.”
Finally , another recommendation is to stop using the words “nursing home”, “asylum”, “old people's home” and their derivatives , since today they are called Long-Stay Establishments for Older Adults (ELEAM) and/or residences, since these are the home of many older people, and like other services directed to them, they must be protected spaces where respect, good treatment and the protection of their rights are the center of attention.
This is an invitation to combat ageism (discrimination suffered by people because of their age, assigning them attributes that cause harm, disadvantages and injustice) and ageism (discrimination experienced exclusively by older people) through the use of inclusive and up-to-date language.
Should we start today to change and update the words we use?
If you liked the topic, we invite you to review:
Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons.
Ratification of the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons in Chile
Guide to the use of good language from Voces Mayores