URS 3325 Holistic Care of Older Adults
URS 3325 Holistic Care of Older Adults
URS 3325 Holistic Care of Older Adults
When I Was Growing Up…How were older adults in my family treated?
What did I observe about the treatment of older adults in society?
How were people with mental or emotional disorders viewed?
Stigma can be described on three conceptual levels: cognitive, emotional and behavioural, which allows us to separate mere stereotypes from prejudice and discrimination. Stereotypes refer to prefabricated opinions and attitudes towards members of certain groups, such as ethnic or religious groups, whites and blacks, Europeans and Latin Americans, Jews and Muslims, and the mentally ill. The most prominent stereotypes surrounding the mentally ill presume dangerousness, unpredictability and unreliability; patients with schizophrenia are most affected by such views.
Stereotypes are not necessarily wrong or negative, as they can help us make quick judgements about persons who share specific characteristics. Stereotypes thereby allow us to deal with or adapt to a specific situation without needing more information about the persons involved. If we asked for directions, we would approach a police officer in a different way than an old lady; our stereotypes of police officers and old ladies would help us to adopt the appropriate behaviour.
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To make a fair and rational judgement about individuals, however, would require more information than simply calling up stereotypes. In cases of mental illness, stereotypes can therefore become dysfunctional because they typically activate generalized rather than customized response patterns; contradictory information can even reinforce stereotypes as “exceptions prove the rule”. In the case of the mentally ill, we can only determine whether a person is indeed dangerous, unpredictable or unreliable, if we make an effort to know him or her better.
In cases of mental illness, stereotypes can therefore become dysfunctional because they typically activate generalized rather than customized response patterns…
This scenario becomes even more complicated with prejudices that are consenting emotional reactions to a stereotype or a stereotyped person. A prejudice about the mentally ill might comprise the reaction or attitude “I am afraid of schizophrenics because they are dangerous and unpredictable”. This changes the context from “a person who suffers from schizophrenia” to “a schizophrenic”, as if this illness characterizes the whole person. Stereotypes and prejudice can subsequently lead to discrimination of individuals or a whole group as a behavioural response: “Mentally ill should be locked away because they are dangerous and unpredictable” or “We can’t employ a mentally ill person because they are unreliable”.
What language was used to describe aging, old age, and older adults with altered mental function?
What words did my family use, and what was the connotative meaning of the words used, to describe older adults? Was it positive, negative, or mixed?
Be sure to use reference to support statements, what was the culture of the time regarding mental health for example,