Ageism in healthcare

A new report from the Alliance for Aging Research outlines five key dimensions of the ageist bias in which U.S. healthcare fails older adults:

• Healthcare professionals do not receive enough training in geriatrics to care properly for many older patients;

• Older patients are less likely than younger people to receive preventive care;

• Older patients are less likely to be tested or screened for diseases and other health problems;

• Proven medical interventions for older patients are often ignored, leading to inappropriate or incomplete treatment; and

• Older people are consistently excluded from clinical trials, even though they are the largest users of approved drugs.

The Alliance warns that, unless ageist attitudes are recognized and rooted out of the healthcare system, the next generation of Americans under Medicare-the largest generation in U.S. history-will likely have inadequate care.

To address the problem of ageism in healthcare, the Alliance recommends the following:

• More training and education for healthcare professionals in the field of geriatrics;

• Greater inclusion of older adults in clinical trials;

• Utilization of appropriate screening and preventive measures for older adults; and

• Empowerment and education of older patients.

"Ageism is a particularly apparent and especially damaging frame of mind that surfaces all too often in healthcare settings where older patients predominate," says Daniel Perry of the Alliance for Aging Research. "Like other patterns of bias-such as racism and sexism-these attitudes diminish us all, but they can be downright deadly to older people in receiving healthcare."