Ethics Of Aging Essay

As future gerontologist, chapters ten and eleven cover a large portion of what we will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis concerning the elderly. The number of older adults in our society will increase in the near future. According to The American Psychological Association, “The news is good: We are all living longer, and in better health, than any other time in history.” (p.1). Age is no longer a meaningful characteristic of bio identity because bioscience has encouraged that aging is a treatable disease. Things such as surgery, drugs and devices are allowing people to live longer. The confusion about natural aging has developed in the last several decades so there is great concern about manipulating with mortality because intervention in late life does have social …show more content…
Sometimes it determines on the person and the situation as in the example give in the chapter of the elder senior who lives in a bad neighborhood but leave her door open for neighbors to enter. Is her family supposed to let her continue to do that or stop her. In addition, if they stop her, are the taking away her rights? Ethics seen through the prism of age has become a public and professional conversation but some ideas are not easily transferred into practice. If the gaps between caregivers, care receivers, policy makers and professionals were mended, it would make a difference. It can become difficult to make decisions about a person’s autonomy. Determining competency without bias is important so that decision making is not taken away from capable elders. There is a call for moral analysis and we need to widen our vision so we can notice situations that are morally problematic so we can seek to change it. (Holstien, 2010). Ethics is something that is not always followed especially when it comes to the elderly but I believe that if each us treat others the way we would want to be treated, then upholding ethical values would not be