Be More Sensitive About Granny’s Age

There may be a temptation to keep the elderly out of sight, out of mind—why else do we stow them away in retirement “communities”?—but new research shows that they have feelings too. A team at Yale has found that talking down to older people—"elderspeak," if you will—can lead to significant decline in their self-regard, with their health not far behind. In a study of 660 people over age 50, researchers found that those who had positive perceptions of aging lived, on average, 7.5 years longer than those with negative perceptions—a bigger boost than that associated with exercise or not smoking. Even words like “dear” and “sweetie” should be off-limits. "People think they're being nice," said Elvira Nagle, 83, "but when I hear it, it raises my hackles.”