Talking down to older adults is not only disrespectful, but
it can be detrimental
By Julie Pfitzinger
January 9, 2019
January 9, 2019
Faye Kirtley doesn’t appreciate it when store clerks talk
down to her and act as if “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said.
“It’s embarrassing, and I don’t know why they think it’s
okay to treat an older person like that,” added the 88-year old resident of
Bardstown, Ky. “Maybe they have people in their family that they talk down to,
too.”
Barbara Tack, 76, of Exeter, N.H. cringes at diminutives
such as “miss” and “little lady” and has been known to correct a supermarket
cashier on the impact of those monikers.
“I told him, ‘I am not young, and I think it’s an insult to
call attention to my age at all,’” said Tack. “He did seem chagrined, so I
tempered it with something like, ‘It makes me feel bad that all you can see is
my age.’ But I hear that kind of condescending comment way too often.”
Tack also shared a story about a friend, a 70-year-old man,
who was offended by what he perceived to be very childlike instructions given
to him by a nurse in a doctor’s office: “Sorry, you have to remove your sweater
for me to take your blood pressure. I know it’s cold outside and you can put it
back on right away.”
Elderspeak Reveals
Perception
What Kirtley and Tack are describing are signs of what is
referred to as “elderspeak.” It occurs when an older adult is spoken to by
health care workers, service personnel, neighbors or even family members as if
he or she is a child with limited understanding.
In a recent article in The Chicago Tribune, Anna I. Corwin,
an anthropologist and professor at St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga,
noted that elderspeak “sounds like baby talk or simplified speech” and is, in
fact, a symptom of how older adults are often perceived.
“Americans tend to view and treat older adults as no longer
productive in society. And that’s how we define personhood, as an adult who is
a productive member of society,” Corwin said.
Elderspeak involves talking slowly and at a louder volume,
with pronounced enunciation; it also employs the frequent use of words such as
“sweetie,” “dear” or the pronoun “we” when referring to the older person (as
in, “Do we want to go to dinner now?”).
The Negative Impact
of Elderspeak
Not only is this type of speech condescending and
disrespectful to older adults, it can be damaging to their mental health and
well-being.
According to Becca Levy, a researcher on a study on the
effects of elderspeak, by Yale University, the practice “sends a message that
the patient is incompetent, and begins a negative downward spiral for older
adults who react with decreased self-esteem, depression and withdrawal.”
Further, those living with mild to moderate dementia can be
even more negatively impacted by this type of language. These people can become
aggressive or uncooperative when elderspeak is used, according to the Yale
report.
The Importance of
Respect
In an article about the dangers of ageism by LifeCare
Advocates, a care management practice based in Newton, Mass., one of the
tactics mentioned for reducing the use of elderspeak involves training health
care workers not only to refrain from using diminutives, but to ask the older
adult how he or she wants to be addressed. For some of them, the automatic use
of their first names demonstrates a lack of respect.
Kirtley, who tends not to correct those who speak down to
her for fear of “causing an incident,” still decries the practice of
elderspeak. She’d be happier to always be treated with the respect she said
everyone deserves.
“It’s an issue of dignity,” Kirtley said.
Julie has worked as a
writer and editor for more than 20 years; most recently she was a managing
editor for the community lifestyle magazine group at Tiger Oak Media in
Minneapolis, where she also served as editor of Saint Paul Magazine. Julie can
be reached via email at jpfitzinger@nextavenue.org Follow her on Twitter @juliepfitzinger.
