Talking With Your Older Patient: A Clinician's Handbook by National Institute of Aging - HTML preview

Use Proper Form of Address

Establish respect right away by using formal language. As one patient said, “Don’t call me Edna, and I won’t call you Sonny.” You might ask your patient about preferred forms of address and how she or he would like to address you. Use Mr., Mrs., Ms., and so on. Avoid using familiar terms, like “dear” and “hon,” which tend to sound patronizing. Be sure to talk to your staff about the importance of being respectful to all of your patients, especially those who are older and perhaps used to more formal terms of address.