Older adult healthcare and a dedicated system for the specific and specialized needs of the elderly are still in a very nascent stage in India. In such a societal system it is often challenging to bring in the humane concern behind making hospice and palliative care a part and parcel of elderly health care (Stjernswärd, 2007).
The idea that is being promoted here is the choice and autonomy of an elderly individual who is going through an end-of-life phase or suffers from an advanced stage of a terminal ailment. In the context, of elderly care, the subject often has more to do with the societal impression of palliative care and hospice services than the actual field aspects (Chaturvedi, 2008). Due to the traditional discourse that treats elderly care to be something that is to be taken up by a family, the individual who needs the care and sometimes, expert assistance about improving his/her quality of life is deprived of the option to vouch for the same.
This initiative would focus on not only discussing the various elements of hospice and palliative care for the older individual in need of such service but also sensitizing the families and members of society about the various myths and beliefs associated with this healthcare domain.
A large number of elderly suffer from age-related issues that become a hindrance to living a life of grace, dignity and qualitatively enhancing due to the lack of support and expertise in this direction. For the palliative and hospice initiatives to work in a system such as that of India, an affordable yet personalized system is much needed (Stjernswärd, 2007).
HC2121 Comparative Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Stjernswärd, J. (2007). Palliative care: the public health strategy. Journal of Public Health Policy, 28(1), 42-55.
Chaturvedi, S. K. (2008). Ethical dilemmas in palliative care in traditional developing societies, with special reference to the Indian setting. Journal of Medical Ethics, 34(8), 611-615.
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