Age is just a number. Don’t equate it with being vulnerable

Somewhere in the great realms of writing and journalism an assumption has been made that whenever the word older (or  elderly) is mentioned then vulnerable has to closely follow.

There is an unspoken rule that older age equates to the inability to look after one self, and once you reach a certain milestone you are defenceless or helpless.

This extends to the right to have choices and make decisions that all of us take for granted every day.  Like, what time to wake up, what to eat, when to eat, whether you want to take part in activities or not.

Yet this rule is rubbish.  It’s based on an outdated and ageist belief that all older people are the same.  It doesn’t take into account the uniqueness of the individual, their circumstances and what they want.

The older people we’ve spoken to tell us they want to remain in control and keep their independence.  In fact, independence is one of the things they value the most.

But the current model with its jargon like personalisation contributes to the stereotyping of older people and assumes age does equal vulnerable.  You only have to look at how older people are herded into buses to go on prescribed outings or given a set meal time with no choices.

At what age do we give up expressing our individualism, relinquishing choice and freedom?  In our view, never.

We’re on a mission to provide a warm environment where older people control their own destiny but with a safety net to support them if they need it.  Where they’re treated with respect and dignity, and that we don’t assume we know what is best for them.

We’ll do this by creating a company structure that enables rather than restricts our staff, ignoring old job descriptions, and developing Evermore people by embedding training and continuous learning from the start.

To us, age is just a number and we’ll do everything in our power to help our Villagers and our staff #LiveHappyFeelGood for evermore.