Age Discrimination In The Medical Field

In the current medical world, reports have shown that older patients have been treated differently as compare to the young patients. For the last several years, it has been noted that older patients get less medical attention than the younger patients with same symptoms. Age discrimination in this profession is in various forms. For instance, inability to accord old people with respect during the treatment process, control and choice or poor attitude towards language concerning labeling of people, who are always regarded as ‘bed blocking’ or ‘acopic’. Some rules and systems are skewed in such a manner that favors the young people, worst being accessibility and quality of the older people in such services as psychological therapies and mental

First, health experts tend to follow the traditional perception of aging as a continuous process of decline- being ignorant of the difference between the process of the normal aging and the disease. In such situations, doctors dismiss complaints and symptoms raised by the older patients. For instance, a physician may disagree with the older patient’s symptoms of depression as the ordinary process of aging and, therefore, may not refer them to a psychiatrist for a test. In addition, physicians in most cases prefer using their skills and expertise to cure severe illnesses rather than managing chronic diseases and rehabilitation. Since chronic diseases are most likely to affect the old adults than the young, physicians who are trained to focus on unique causes of diseases and their cure may not take their time to look unto the quality of life of the older

Chronic diseases that has reduced the body functioning of the older people have been less outstanding than the serious conditions but are far-reaching than diseases that have been well researched (Macnicol, 2006). Old adults have not been fully represented in some other medical research and also in funding priorities. Lack of enough research studies, for instance, clearly shows that some treatments are beneficial to older patients. Doctors cannot prescribe some interventions without the experiential evidence of the effectiveness of treatment on the older people.
Poor communication between the doctor and the patient has contributed largely to under lack inadequate treatment of the older adults. Research has indicated that doctors are more patient, responsive, optimistic and respectful with younger patients than the older patients. Communication problems arise as a result of the older patients being more passive and accept the diagnosis of their doctors without