In quest of justice? Clinical prioritisation in healthcare for the aged

Abstract

The interviews in this study indicate that considerations of justice and patients' perspectives should be given more attention to strike a balance between specialised medical approaches and more general and comprehensive approaches in healthcare services for older patients.

Ageism in Current Practice: Experiences of Occupational Therapists

“…A review of staffing ratios from one local hospital showed that occupational therapists working with older adults in that hospital had double the caseload than those who worked with younger adults (G. Maier, personal communications, 16 April 2006). Ageism and associated underfunding of services for older adults have been reported in several countries [e.g., England (Mold, McKevitt, & Wolfe, 2003;Young, 2006), Canada (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2005), Norway (Pedersen et al, 2008), and the United States (International Longevity Centre-USA, 2006; Kane, 2006)]. Oliver (2009) wrote in a recent British Medical Journal editorial that health services for older adults do not "meet the needs of older adults-especially those with complex need-who may be 'disadvantaged majority' and potential victims of agebased discrimination" (p. 3378).…”

Health professionals' attitudes toward older people and older patients: A systematic review

“…However, healthcare professionals are reported to have persistently negative attitudes toward older people regardless of specialities (Kearney, Miller, Paul, & Smith, 2000). This potentially adversely affects the quality of care provided (Lee, Reuben, & Ferrell, 2005), particularly in terms of staff behavior, interactions, available treatments and healthcare services (Hatton, 1977;Knowles & Sarver, 1985), reflecting subtle processes within various organization and systems (Pedersen et al, 2008). Furthermore, negative attitudes were associated with lower willingness to consider a career in geriatrics (Chua, Tan, Merchant, & Soiza, 2008;Hughes et al, 2008;Pan, Edwards, & Chang, 2009), which is a cause of concern regarding the future availability of health professionals to meet the needs of the increasing healthcare system (Cha, & Seo, 2009).…”

Én pasient, to verdener – samhandling mellom sykehjemsleger og sykehusleger

“…The hospital doctors referred to lack of time as an explanatory factor. At the same time, we had the impression that it was easier for them to spend time and resources on examinations and treatment than to invest in communication, which could probably economise on resources and result in more individualised patient treatment (4,14,15).…”