As a medical editor and as someone who is in her sixties, I am very much in favor of not using #ageist #language when talking about #older #adults.
As the Institute for Public Health reports,
"Eliminating #bias in language about older adults is important because there is evidence suggesting that biased language evokes #negative #stereotypes about older people. These negative stereotypes have the power to impact #policy, group #attitudes, and the #health of older adults."
That article supplies terminology guidance from the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Associated Press, and the Gerontological Society of America.
And the Reframing Aging Initiative within the Gerontological Society of America is working to change how all of us speak and think about older adults. The initiative has an informative website with some helpful resources for everyone, from the general public to specialists in various professions.
The words we use matter.
#ageism #bias #stereotypes #predjudice #DailyLife #science #health #medicine #editing #publishing #inclusion #respect
