There was a letter to the editor in the April 6th issue of the New York Times from a physician, a
geriatrician. Dr. Barry Farkas’ letter refers
to an earlier NYT feature article on adolescents facing death and having a say
in how they want to live those last weeks and months. Dr. Farkas makes this point: “Language is so powerful that it
not only reflects what and how we think of things, but
it also directs what and how we think of things.”
I've written before in this blog about the
power of language and the conviction that if we change our words we can change the
culture. One obvious example of how the
broader culture profoundly acknowledges the double function of words (to both reflect
and to construct our concepts) is in the totally unacceptable use of the “n
word” under any circumstances. Well and good.
In our society where ageism is so deeply embedded in the culture
that we don’t recognize it, it behooves us to examine the words we use about
aging, older adults, and aging services. Let’s look at a few terms that are
still too prevalent in aging services communities:
If you need supportive services, do you want to move in to a community that provides
those series, or do you want to be
admitted? Clearly, one is admitted into an institution: a hospital, a university,
the legal profession (‘admitted to the bar’).
If we want our nursing home to be HOME, do we admit new residents or
help them move in?
In many nursing homes, meals are prepared by the dietary department. What if we said food services instead? The food already tastes better, and the
meal time seems more like the social act that dining really should be.
If a person in a nursing home needs assistance with meals, is that
person’s dignity better recognized by describing her as a feeder or as Sharon, who
needs assistance with her meals?
Nursing homes sprang up in our country from two pre-existing
institutions: the county almshouses and
hospitals. Gawande addresses this
historical reality well in his book, BEING MORTAL. It’s time to move our thinking from nursing
home as institution to nursing home as HOME.
One way to initiate that move is to consciously choose our words because
“Language is so powerful that it not only reflects what and how we think of things, but
it also directs what and how we think of things.”
