Guide9th September 2025
The words we choose really matter.
They can make us feel big or small.
Include or exclude us.
Excite or bore us.
And our words dictate our behaviour
Could you adjust your words to help someone feel big?
| Instead of Terms which may appear ‘institutional’ | We use Terms which will not ‘other’ or reduce people, meaning we won’t treat a person as different to ourselves. |
|---|---|
| PWS or Service User / Resident or Placement / Cared for person / Client | Person we support / person who draws on our support or, wherever possible, their name People are people! They’re more than just users of a service, and they should never be reduced to an acronym These terms also imply passivity and dependence, suggesting people are solely recipients of care and not active participants with their own life. |
| Void | Room available / vacancy / spare room I don’t have a void in my house. Do you? |
| Package | Describe the support that the person draws on |
| Accessing the community / Doing activities | Going to the pub, cinema, restaurant, social club, art group etc When did you last “access your community” or “Do activities”? |
| Taken out | Going out with John / supporting Jane to visit… We do with the person, not to them. |
| Non-verbal | Doesn’t communicate with words / communicates without words Everyone can communicate. As support teams, our first task is to find the right way of communicating with the person |
| Kicking off / Challenging behaviour / Tantrum | Behaviours of distress / or is angry, frustrated These behaviours are almost invariably a response to something or someone in that person’s environment – they’re a form of communication. It is our task to understand this and make things better, not find fault with the person. Viewing the person as being in distress helps us remember this. |
| Going to The Avenue | Going to Jane and Paul’s in Bournemouth It’s the person’s home first, our workplace second! |
| Service / My service | Home It’s the person’s home first, our workplace second! |
| Joe has autism | Joe, who is autistic… This is a tricky one. We must always respect individual people’s preferences. Most people these days prefer the label ‘autistic’ to ‘with autism’ or ‘has autism.’ |
| Absconding | Went out without support / chose to leave home without support Avoid institutional language and behaviours at all costs. |
| Respite care | Short stay / Emergency stay / Short breaks (according to context) We know that caring can be exhausting. Many of us are family carers, too. But no-one wants to think that their loved ones need respite from them. |
| Doing personal care | Supporting someone with their personal care We do with, or alongside, not to or for people. It might sound subtle but it is a completely different way of thinking. |
| Describing family members as ‘difficult’ | Think about why this may be. A lifetime of trauma at the hands of social services, maybe? ‘Difficult’ is almost always for a reason. Meet them where they are, help them imagine that things can become better and don’t use this label. |
| Wheelchair bound | Wheelchair user One is empowering, the other very negative |
| PMLD | Profound or Multiple Learning Disabilities should be written out in full, with (PMLD) in brackets if needs be. And remember – this is a general description, not a formal diagnosis. Is there a more personal way to describe things? |
| Residential care home | Person’s home Unless you are writing / speaking about residential care specifically |
| Staff / Carer | Colleague’s name / Colleague / Team / Support team “Staff” makes us think of big, institutional places; uniforms etc. That’s not us. We use names wherever possible. |
| Vulnerable people | Don’t use ‘vulnerable’ as a blanket label. If you feel you need to use the term ‘vulnerable’, make sure it’s clear who the term applies to, why those people are vulnerable and to what. |
| Difficult to engage / Hard to reach / Non-compliant / Refusal | Never use. Consider what this language says about our practice or the person’s life experience, rather than blaming them. What might you do differently? If someone didn’t want to do something, describe it that way. |
| I did a pad change | I supported Dave with changing and continence care Doing with, not to |
| I put to bed | I supported X to go to bed or supported with night time routine (if assisted into) X went to bed (if not assisted) Doing with, not to |
| I dressed X | I supported X to get dressed Doing with, not to |
| I fed X | I supported X to eat Doing with, not to |
| I told X | I explained to X Doing with, not to |
| I did meds for X | I supported X to take their medication Doing with, not to |
| X suffered from | Stick with the facts: X had a seizure, hayfever etc |
| Toileted | I supported X to use the toilet – I prompted X to use the toilet Only write this if we need to know this information |
| No concerns | Describe how you’ve helped the person to have a great day |
| Medical terms | Try to avoid or explain what this is, even those terms that seem commonplace, such as SaLT plans for example. |
| Those who… / Those with… | People who… / People with… |
| Joe doesn’t use words to communicate… | Joe communicates without words… |
| Putting Joe at the centre of our support… | Try to avoid this language as putting someone at the centre suggests we’re doing something to someone – how about, “Joe’s support plan is centred on his gifts, his abilities and his needs…” |
| Supported Living Services | Supported Living homes |
| Clinical interventions/delegated nursing tasks | Delegated healthcare tasks |
| Well done for reaching the end. What language do’s and dont’s would you like to add here? | |