Elder Mediation: What's in a Name?

I just came across a 2009 blog by Stephanie West Allen re: our book, Elder Mediation: A New Solution to Age-Old Problems. Believe it or not, I agree with her re: not liking the Elder Mediation (EM) term because 1) it seems lopsided in focus, excluding everyone else involved in the conflict and 2) older adults do not like the term “elder,” especially in America.

However, in researching for our book, we found that the term is fairly well established among mediators. From inside the profession, we all know what it means; for consumers, it’s not commonly known. I think ACR has a new division for EM, but it is called something else that is more inclusive. Since our target market is largely the mediation community, we went with the more familiar term EM.

Who knows what in 50 years it will be called. I like Stephanie West's term intergenerational mediation; have also seen it under family mediation. However, these seem to exclude the organizational issues from nursing home/AL, physician/older adult disputes, funeral home/family disputes, etc. Am looking forward to seeing how the field unfolds and what term “wins out” in the end.

Interestingly, during the last 10 years or so, the topic of what to call people over 60 has come up a lot at professional planning meetings I’ve attended. We’ve asked these folks what they prefer to be called, and many of them can’t agree. Here in Ohio, they don’t like the terms senior, older, golden-ager, elder, late life adult…They’re not sure what to call themselves either!

The dialogue continues...

Dr. John Bertschler featured speaker Nov. 1

eCare Diary

Susan Baida, eCareDiary blogtalk radio host, will interview Dr. John on Monday, November 1, 2 PM EST on the topic of Elder Mediation and caregiver decision-making. Please see link.

Reflection on Chilean Miners Rescue

Last night I was reading James Patterson's novel Cross Country in which the author tells of Alex Cross's horrifying trip to Africa to find a killer of a friend of his and her family. Killings, rapes, slashings, explosions all in the end because of international greed and power. Each incident is filled with terror, tears, screams, agony. While this is a novel, we know that these atrocities occur on a daily basis in many parts of the world.

Juxtaposed with that, I am watching the live video stream of the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners as they ascend from the depths to cheers, high-fives, hugs, kisses and tears of joy. I am amazed at the precision of technical planning, the respect in giving each miner a few minutes with his family, the preparation for psychological transition in the months ahead that went into this rescue. People using their minds and hearts for good on this earth.

My simple take-away, among others, is that we each have a choice to do good or evil during our time here. Most of us are only spectators of the heart-rending rescue in Chile. But we will go to work, interact with our families and cross paths with many people today who are in need of some small act of kindness, a smile, a favor, a shoulder to lean on. I lift up in prayer all those who make a choice for the good in our own corner of the world.

Five Sure-Fire Ways To Cause Conflict At Work

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