A Rose by any other name

• Shame and Dependence by Dorothy Chance, 8/6/97
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    • Better name needed by Don Nathanson, 8/12/97
      
      

Yes, we have tried the nomenclature cure, and most of our centers are called "Health Care Centers." In California a few years back, the name "Convalescent Hospital" became popular, and now there is a strong tendency for acute care hospitals to "convert" some of their unused bed capacity into SNF "Geriatric Rehab Units." Some so called Rehab hospitals are liscensed SNF units.

More to the point, especially in an environment conducive to exploration of the dynamic of shame, is the obviously overarching sense of "faulty being" experienced and expressed clearly in the presence of chronic, debilitating illness. Calling it by another name does not alter the experience, sad to say.

Oddly, hospice care has opened the door for some people, but in that situation, there is a predictable outcome within a manageable time frame. Dementing illness, for one, has no such clear boundary and is devastating.

One more small fact, in our system some 98% of our population has "closely involved" family present. These are not abandoned nor unwanted people, contrary to the popular imagination.

Is there a connection between "stigma" and "shame?"

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