Pamela B. Teaster, PhD, MA, MS and Al O. Giwa, LLB, MD, MBA, MBE
Since ageism contributes to global mental health inequity among older people, responding to their needs should be a clinical, ethical, and policy priority.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(10):E765-770. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.765.
Dr Art Walaszek joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs William Smith and David Elkin: “How to Draw on Narrative to Mitigate Ageism.”
Physicians have an obligation to consider a patient’s quality of life when making treatment decisions and should consider giving patients the options of withholding or withdrawing aggressive treatment if that treatment will not restore the kind of life the patient finds meaningful.