What do you do to change the language we use to ensure we promote the wellbeing of older individuals?

I think that we have to be very aware that people come to our industry from a wide range of backgrounds and professions, with baked-in words like "patient" and "elderly".  We need to first address those words that are blatantly ageist or which could offend, and do so in a very gentle way, because our primary interest should be in the the attitudes and hearts of those that we work with.

The modern world is obsessed with the appearance of correctness, and less with the actual implementation of quality, meaningful care.

I interact with many heros in our industry who fight daily for the rights and care of older persons who have nothing, yet if I was to measure them on the basis of the terms that they use, I could claim to be offended and correct them at every turn, thus detracting from the results that they achieve.

While I support a revised set of terms that better reflect our desires for a respectful, dignified interaction with those we try to care for and interact with, as in so many things, balance and patience is required, and a good measure of introspection before correcting others. 

@magda @rob, this is a constant battle. I have spent hours changing our documentation, policies and training material to reflect more appropriate language. I still hear the words creeping in on a daily basis.  Its hard to enforce when we are always referring to the 'older persons act' or 'elderly abuse', these are terms indoctrinated in us from DSD. We still see nurses being very task driven and instead of assisting; by taking over they strip the client of their identity and autonomy. Eventually we will get there but it is a daily fight and reminder.