FACILITY. I’ve used it a lot, but today I’m eliminating it from my vocabulary. Who wants to live in a facility? Guess what, honey, I’m moving to the FACILITY.' Yippeeee.Language triggers visions in the mind. Would you rather go to the ballpark or the stadium? Ballpark connotes smaller, open air, blue skies, maybe ivy on the walls. When I hear stadium I think of a concrete mass in the middle of a sea of parking lots. There’s a reason Major League Baseball doesn’t use the word 'stadium' anymore or why the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities changed its name from the American Association on Mental Retardation, or some people use the phrase 'rightsize' instead of 'downsize' …In our Age Wave study, we asked baby boomers about several words in our profession. They can’t stand facility. And they don’t like campus. They really don’t like 'nursing home.' The word they embraced? Community. Makes total sense. Community vs. facility. One is much warmer, more inclusive, more vibrant, and people have lived in communities all of their life. Here’s an interesting perspective on language from Elite Care, a senior housing company in Oregon:We adopt a new vocabulary to erase debilitating stereotypes. Think about typically used elder care terms such as 'assisted,' 'caregiver,' 'administrator,' 'aide,' 'nurse,' and 'facility.' These words imply sickness, disability, and mindsets that inhibit creation of healthy power structures. Then consider words like 'facilitate,' 'elder,' 'extended family,' 'Life Enhancing Tasks,'„¢ and Neighborhood Coordinator. This new vocabulary does not make elders 'objects of care,' or make staff overprotect residents, because of stereotypes bolstered by language.Here’s another look at language from Paul Kleyman, editor of Aging Today, and a survey he directed at the American Society on Aging:In the June 2007 ASA Connection, readers answering our “Quick Question” about terms for people ages 65-plus overwhelmingly favored older adults, with elders running second. Now, thanks to a new study from the Journalists Exchange on Aging, we have a chance to see how reporters and editors view the issue — and it turns out that both terms also made the journalists’ preferred list. By contrast, senior citizen found little favor in either camp: The JEOA study dismisses the label as “euphemistically sour,” and only 10.8 percent of the “Quick Question” respondents found it acceptable. Interestingly, in the survey we did of Minnesota baby boomers, 'senior' was preferred by 48% of respondents, 40% preferred 'older adult' and only 9% liked 'elder' the best. What is abundantly clear, however, is that there is a huge opportunity to change the language of aging services. What are words that you’d like to see changed?