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Eldercare
Nude Nursing Home Photos Fuel New Zealand
Controversy
'People who are happy to look at attractive young
bodies have second thoughts when you add a few wrinkles'
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A photo published in
the news report by TVNZ from the collection. The magazine,
Kaitiaki, that published the nude photos is not available
online. |
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May 15, 2006 – New Zealand is awash in controversy
today over a photo essay that shows elderly residents of two nursing
homes naked as they shower, dress and use the toilet. The photos appear
in the May issue of Kaitiaki, The Journal of the New Zealand Nurses'
Organization.
Ann Manchester, editor of Kaitiaki, said some of
the criticism had been stirred up by people who were seeing no more
flesh than was exposed in glossy magazine advertisements featuring
nubile young women, according to a report online by Kent Atkinson in
Stuff.co.nz of Fairfax New Zealand.
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"Part of the shock is because our society does not
usually show off aged and wrinkled bodies," said Manchester.
"But these photos show people being cared for at
their most frail and vulnerable".
Ms Manchester said the controversy was not
unexpected, because the 40 images – of which only a few had any nudity –
were more powerful than than any written description of the relationship
between caregivers and their patients.
"Every single photo shows the intimate and close
relationship – often a fun relationship – between the caregiver and rest
home residents," she said.
Rest-home residents, caregivers, the rest homes,
and sometimes the families, all gave their permission for the photos to
be taken four years ago, and understood they would be published in some
form.
But Beth Kelly, a Whangarei registered nurse and
rest home manager, has criticised the photos as an abuse of the women's
right to dignity and privacy, reported Stuff.
She was also concerned that the essay could damage
public perceptions of the integrity of the gerontology section committee
of the nurses organization, which she chairs.
She said the group was looking at lodging an
official complaint with the organization and with the magazine, but
would first discuss the matter with the acting chief executive of the
NZNO, Cee Payne-Harker.
Interestingly, it was NZNO that commissioned the
photos, along with the Service and Food Workers' Union.
The photos were taken in a pilot study for a
travelling exhibition or a book by Alan Knowles, a Wellington
photographer known for his studies of people at work. The were made in
nursing homes in Christchurch and Wellington.
Sandra Goudie, the Senior Citizens Spokeswoman for
the National Party, issued a statement calling the publication of the
photos of nude rest home residents "an outrage."
"Nurses and clinicians specialising in geriatric
care are outraged at photographs of naked rest home residents," said
TV New Zealand in their online report.
A spokesperson for the gerontology section of the
NZNO says the publication of the photos is a form of elder abuse. The
section has also lodged an official complaint with the organization and
the magazine, according to the TVNZ report.
"These photographs illustrate the care of people
near the end of their lives, often with a range of physical weaknesses,
in a way that many articles have failed to capture in words," Manchester
told reporter Atkinson.
"Only two or three show people naked or semi-naked.
"In every case permission was given, and I don't
believe they are at all exploitative".
The people photographed – particularly those who
were partly clothed – understood what was happening during the "shoot".
"They did it because they believed in the cause:
getting greater recognition for caregivers, to have their work more
valued and better paid," said Ms Manchester.
"It's not glamorous work – it take a special person
to perform these tasks of daily living: toiletting, feeding showering,
dressing, and giving medication".
"I've never seen anything which so clearly
demonstrates the nature of the work – but while some see them as a
powerful essay on the job, others are offended by the sight of a
elderly, frail and ulcerated body – it is quite shocking."
"We don't normally see bodies that elderly in the
media," said Manchester.
"People who are happy to look at attractive young
bodies have second thoughts when you add a few wrinkles."
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