Rep. Lauren H. Carson has introduced legislation to update state laws to eliminate outdated terms describing older Rhode Islanders.
The legislation would initiate a review of state laws for references to “elders” and “elderly person(s),” to enable the drafting of legislation next year to replace those terms with the phrase “older adults.”
The bill, which also makes changes designed to give older Rhode Islanders a seat at the table in state planning and better empower a panel on long-term care, stems from the work of a commission Carson chairs to study services provided to older Rhode Islanders.
The commission is identifying ways to improve services and maximize resources available to older Rhode Islanders in the face of an expected surge in that population over the next 15 years. Over the course of more than two years the commission has been meeting, Carson has noted that, with life expectancy having increased over the decades, people over 60 are not all living lifestyles that could be described as “elderly,” and they certainly don’t appreciate being labeled as such.
“Words matter. When we apply labels to people, we are telling them and everyone else how we think of them, what we expect of them. Many people over 60, 65 or 70 are still working like any other adults. They are contributing to their communities, they are active and they simply are not what we think of when we hear the word ‘elderly.’ They don’t want to be called ‘senior citizens,'” Carson said. “Being older than middle age doesn’t mean you are elderly. Our language should better reflect that this is a huge swath of our population that includes a wide range of ages, abilities and lifestyles. They definitely aren’t all elderly.”
Her legislation (2026-H 7496) also specifies that references to “handicapped” and “disabled” in the parts of the General Laws relating to older adults be replaced with the term “adult person(s) with disabilities.”
The bill also makes two other changes to address issues identified over the course of Carson’s commission’s work.
It adds a representative from a statewide aging advocacy organization as a member of the State Planning Council and specifies that the new member must also be at least 60 years old. The purpose of the change is to sharpen the state’s focus on issues affecting older Rhode Islanders by ensuring their interests are represented in state planning, helping to prepare and direct resources appropriately as the state’s 60-and-older population segment grows. Currently, more than 240,000 Rhode Islanders are age 60 or older. That number is expected to increase to almost 265,000 by 2040.
The legislation also makes it easier for the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council to reach a quorum. With 33 members, many of whom are busy leaders of state agencies, organizations or businesses, the panel at times struggles with a lack of a quorum at its meetings. The bill would allow 12 members of the panel to constitute a quorum.