Florida Elder Law Blog - A blog by Elder Law Associates, South Florida's premier elder law attorneys, who handle elder law, medicaid planning, guardianships and much, much more.
I just read this great article on the bias of medical care providers toward the elderly and aging:
"In many cultures in the world, elderly people are revered and their advice is sought and respected. In our culture, the wisdom, the knowledge and the social skills of the elderly are often overlooked and instead we focus on the mental and physical deficits of our older generation....
"Because of this prevailing attitude, older people in our society are generally regarded as less valuable than younger people....It is inevitable that many medical care providers will unconsciously have this same attitude towards their older patients.
"As a result, if an older person has a medical complaint and the cause is not readily apparent, a medical practitioner is more likely to accept the condition as a consequence of old age. This attitude causes practitioners to focus treatment on making the elderly more comfortable in their old age as opposed to finding a cure. In younger people, if the medical complaint is interfering with normal daily function, typically a more concerted effort will be made to identify and correct the problem."
Click here to read the entire article.-- Ellen S. Morris, JD
Labels: elder care
