Sensitive language

In order to provide the best possible content for our audience, we need to cover topics in an appropriate and sensitive manner. This means being cognisant of the best practice media guidelines put together by boards, charities and groups around the world.

Where possible, UK guidelines have been provided; however, this list is far from exhaustive. If you are aware of any best practice guidelines that you feel we should adopt, please raise this with the chief subeditor or deputy chief subeditor.

Guidelines to note

Cancer patients — do not refer to people with cancer as a ‘cancer patients’; the accepted term is ‘people/person with cancer’. Do not using the term ‘fight’ or ‘battle’ and avoid use of the term ‘all clear’, as individual recovery time and experience will vary.

Care home patient — do not use this term — the accepted term is ‘resident’, unless the context shows that they are specifically receiving medical treatment from a doctor/GP;

Compliance vs concordance — concordance is the preferred term. Compliance implies the patient was not involved in the decision-making process;

Dementia patient — do not use this term; the accepted term is ‘person living with dementia’;

Diabetics — use the term ‘people with diabetes’, as opposed to ‘diabetics’ or ‘a diabetic person’. Where possible, distinguish between types 1 and 2;

Eating disorders — anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are recognised as mental illnesses and must be reported on sensitively. More information can be found here: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/media-centre/media-guidelines;

Fight — do not use this in context of diseases;

HIV/AIDS — HIV and AIDS are not interchangeable. Person living with HIV is a commonly accepted term in the literature. More information can be found here: www.nat.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/June-2010-Guidelines-for-reporting-HIV.pdf;

Layperson — avoid this term entirely;

Male/female/man/woman — these terms all have different meanings and should not be conflated. Male and female refer to a person’s sex — their genetic and physiological state. Man and woman refer to a person’s gender — the social and cultural role ascribed to a given sex, or how a person self-identifies. Unless you are specifically referring to their gender, use the term male(s) or female(s);

Mental health — do not use images of people clutching their head, simply looking sad or anything similar;

Obesity/overweight/underweight — do not use the term ‘obese/overweight/underweight person/patient’; the accepted terminology is ‘person/patient with obesity’ and/or ‘person/patient who is overweight/underweight’.

Sexual assault — do not use the term ‘victim’ (see below) or ‘survivor’. Where possible, use of clauses such as “people who have experienced sexual assault” and “people affected by sexual assault” should be used.

Sufferer/victim — do not use these terms.

Suicide — do not use the term ‘committed suicide’ — the accepted term is ‘died by suicide’. More information can be found in ‘Useful resources’: 

Survivor — this term is acceptable.

Ethnicity — refer to ethnicity not race. Use ‘people from ethnic minorities’ to refer to all ethnic groups except the white British group. Do not use ‘ethnic minority people’. For comparisons with the white group as a whole, use ‘all other ethnic groups combined’ or ‘ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities)’. ‘White’ and ‘other than white’ can be used but do not use ‘non-white’.

Avoid using broad terms like ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ or ‘BAME’, unless these terms are used in a cited paper or reference, but in these cases we should specify who/what has used that term. Be as specific as possible when referring to a person or group’s background or heritage.

For further information and guidance, visit: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity

You can see a list of ethnic groups here, as recommended for use by the UK government, and find out how the groups were chosen.

Inclusive language

Heterosexual — refers to a man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women or to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men.

Trans — an umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as or who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender man — a term used to describe someone who is assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man.

Transgender woman — a term used to describe someone who is assigned male at birth but identifies and lives as a woman.

Non-binary — an umbrella term for people whose gender identity does not fall into ‘man’ or ‘woman’.

Visit the glossary on Stonewall’s website to see a full list of LGBTQ+ terms

Focusing on anatomy, conditions and symptoms (instead of gender)

Images 

Images must be chosen carefully and must not portray mental health or sensitive topics in an overly stereotypical light. Images should be neutral and not humorous, nor should stock images be chosen.

Please avoid:

• People with their heads in their hands or gazing out of rainy windows to depict mental health challenges;
• Positive discrimination (e.g. a stock BAME image to depict any sort of diversity topic);
• Graphic images (e.g. street drugs, self harm methods, blood).

This article is helpful to gain a better idea of acceptable imagery around sensitive topics: https://evidentlycochrane.net/picturing-mental-health