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#agedcare 'residents' are PEOPLE not PATIENTS. They are *all of us* in a matter of years, months, decades. Mothers, brothers, daughters, cousins. Whole beings - thinking, speaking, feeling the full force of existence. Many are there for physical support, not cognitive challenges
...paternalistic language in this unfolding 'aged care' pandemic tragedy is a parallel ongoing tragedy.
Time to hear directly from elders not just talk 'about them'. Many have full capacity to articulate their concerns and experiences.
Time to hear directly from elders not just talk 'about them'. Many have full capacity to articulate their concerns and experiences.
Or are they not 'allowed' to - institutions of all kinds make it very hard to talk freely when you are a 'resident' inside them. And so it continues..people living with disability..our elders..get stripped of their voices & their agency to self represent because of blanket labels
& yes, whatever our cognitive state as we age we are the fullest of beings. Present & alive to the world. As neurons change, or are stripped away by dementia, we're still our evolving self..shaped by our experiences of the world.Great dementia support innovators know this so well
Spent many years recording alongside/chairing/sharing discussions with people who are or were clients/patients/inmates/survivors of 'care' institutions..psychiatric facilities, prisons, disability support, schools, hospitals, aged care..Whatever era or service..*recurring themes*
When "we" use the label "vulnerable" thinking it is part of the act of "caring".."we" have to stop, check, ask, give voice. "Nothing About Us Without Us" has driven disability movements globally & was at the heart of fight for UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
It is a mantra with real muscle. The might of representation. It matters.
It matters in this time of pandemic.
It matters always.
It matters always.
