Staying healthy requires mindful use of language

Published 16th September 2014

Lower prevalence of psychiatric conditions when negative age stereotypes are resisted

Becca R. Levy, Corey E. Pilver and Robert H. Pietrzak

In a consumer and or person centered service world the words we use matter. A recent study in the journal of social science and medicine published in October 2014 found that rates of mental health outcomes were related to negative age-sterotypes. When we are not mindful of the language that we use, it’s easy to unintentionally undermine a person’s self-esteem which may affect the choice and control they have over their lives. The choice of words such as "sweetie" and "old dear" carry negative images of aging. This reserach found that “… those who have more negative images of aging have worse functional health over time, including lower rates of survival". Thus if we care about our own health and want to reduce age-discrimination in our community how we talk about our friends, relatives and clients is important, as one day it will be us unless we change our ways now.