Silver tsunami

Scholars from a range of disciplines including humanities, health professions, and social science have argued that the silver tsunami does not constitute neutral language to describe population aging, calling it "dangerous" and "a nasty metaphor for older adults". "The Winter 2010 President's Message from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research begins by invoking "the 'grey tsunami'—the tide of chronic diseases arising from an aging population which threatens to swamp our health-care system, economy, and quality of life." Similarly, in 2010 the Alzheimer Society of Canada published a major commissioned report on the projected impact of dementia entitled "Rising Tide." This ominous rhetoric of rising, swamping, tides, and disease—amplified by the authoritative tones of medical and health policy expertise—conceives of population aging as an imminent catastrophe" (Charise, p.3). In a 2013 editorial in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work entitled "The Aging Tsunami: Time for a New Metaphor?", Amanda Barusch builds on this objection, by describing the "inaccurate, damaging perceptions" of older age. "The specter of millions of dependent elders sweeping over the land makes us shiver. And this is what fuels the aging tsunami metaphor". In place of the silver tsunami's "apocalyptic" imagery, critics have suggested abandoning the metaphor in favour of different, and ideally more neutral, terminology with less overtly ageist connotations. "Geriatricians and gerontologists who want to influence policymakers to improve services for older people will need to engage in a dialogue with journalists in areas other than the biomedical literature." ==See also==