Defining ‘Dignity’ for Older People in Wales
January 31, 2012
A report on the findings of a study on what dignity means to older minority ethnic people in Wales has been launched to mark this year’s Dignity in Action Day, 1st February.
Over the decades research in the area of dignity and age has grown in both the UK and internationally.
Although the body of research evidence has helped significantly to refine the concept of dignity and to broaden our understanding of older people’s experience and expectations of care, few studies have sought to examine the concept of dignity and perceptions of dignified care as linked to social identity and racialisation, and to develop an understanding of the possible impact this has on enhancing or damaging a care encounter.
A report on the study, ‘In their own words’: Voices of African-Caribbean and Black Welsh men and women fifty years and older, led by University of Glamorgan academic Dr Roiyah Saltus seeks to address this gap in Wales.
Dr Saltus said, “This exploratory study is significant in that is seeks to address a present gap in the research evidence base. We hope that this study is of interest to anyone with a concern about older people’s care and with services, organisations and agencies who are seeking to shape positively the expectations older people have on the care and support options they have at their disposal. Further research on the concept and lived experiences of dignified care encounters that explore further the concepts of personal and social identities is needed. With this should come studies that explore the personal identities of older people as linked to other social markers such gender, ethnicity, migration histories, and as shaped by the accumulated impact of structural inequalities.”
Led by Dr Saltus who is a Principal Research Fellow based at the University of Glamorgan, the aim of the qualitative, exploratory study was to capture how dignity is understood, and how dignified care is viewed, with a focus on support or care expectations, preferences and experiences.
Interviews were conducted with 21 first and second generation Black Caribbean/ West Indian older people, and older men and women living in Wales who self-identify as being 3rd or 4th generation Black Welsh (that is of mixed ethnic groups, with ancestral links to Africa and the Caribbean).
The study revealed that, as aspects of their personal identity, social markers such as ethnicity and cultural identity shaped their understanding of what dignity means and also had an impact on how they felt they would be treated in care encounters. A key message is that attention to these elements is important, as is the need to develop an understanding of the possible impact such factors may have on enhancing or damaging a care encounter. The anxiety around external sources of support and care was voiced, by some, in terms linked to their personal identity, and not being treated with care and with dignity because of their ethnic or cultural background.
Care or support workers who assume that they know what an older person needs, who seek to provide care or support based on their presumptions of a older person’s cultural-specific needs, or who do not have the skills needed to work across ethnic groups, delivering person-centred care are other key concerns raised by the participants.
Martyn Jones from Age Cymru said, “Age Cymru is grateful to Dr. Saltus and the Wales Ethnicity Research Collaboration (WERC) at the University of Glamorgan for offering the opportunity for our Older Minority Ethnic Network (OMEN) to participate in this research. OMEN exists to provide a voice to the often marginalised minority ethnic section of the older population in Wales and to ensure that Age Cymru develops robust policy positions based on evidence obtained from the widest possible cross section of society. We feel that this groundbreaking research will do much to extend knowledge and understanding in this area and to influence the development of policy and implementation of services for older minority ethnic people across Wales.”
Notes to editors:
Further findings were:
• The almost unanimous view that mutual respect and reciprocity is vital to the fostering of dignity and the acknowledging of a person’s self worth. “You treat the person as you would like to be treated.” (002: African-Caribbean woman, aged 73) The key messages repeated most often by the participants were: the universal right to be respected, the significance of one’s self-worth, the links between self-respect and dignity in social encounters, and the impact of the social positioning of older age and societal discrimination.
• The study revealed that older people have strong views on what constituted care. Key responses to the question ‘what type of care would you like to expect to receive’ that were revealed were: basic personal care; acknowledgement of human dignity; acknowledged as an individual; acknowledgment of and attention to social markers linked to the personal and social identities of older people, as articulated by the person; care that prolonged autonomy and independence; care delivered by people who were not only aware of individual preferences and cultural differences (or similarities as the case may be), but who were responsive and made appropriate adjustments. These were considered key enhancers and indicators of dignified care.
The study was funded by the Welsh Government’s New Ideas Social Fund and is part of a series of studies being conducted under the auspices of the Wales Ethnicity Research Collaboration (WERC – www.werc.org.uk), an all-Wales research group with partners
