ageism

Ageism

Ageism

The world has evolved greatly in several aspects, and one of these is prejudice and stereotyping. Despite this, and a shift of the masses towards a world free of prejudice, a great percentage of the world still feels discriminated. This prejudice is because of a particular characteristic that is innate to them and that they cannot change. In the healthcare profession, this manifests especially in caring for geriatrics by healthcare professions including nurses and medical doctors. It is therefore important to ensure that this subject is adequately addressed both in instruction of students in this profession, and from time to time in platforms such as continuous medical education.

Ageism is a form of prejudice directed towards the elderly in the society, especially among the younger generations who view the elderly as being lesser in various aspects. This alters the attitude and approach of the younger generations to the elderly. Ageist bias and prejudice affects the way healthcare professionals attend to elderly patients. Often, an elderly patient approaching a nurse gets an entirely different approach as compared to an approach given to patients of a lesser age.

Ethnocentrism is the perception of other cultures based on preconceptions whose origins are in the standards and customs of one’s own culture. This makes ageism similar to ethnocentrism in that people derive conclusions about others based on their prior knowledge or beliefs about these people. This leads to a different approach to these people based on these stereotypes. In the healthcare profession, ethnocentrism is tied to ageism in that the patient-nurse trust is often influenced by cultural norms.

Attending nursing school has exposed me to ageism right from my first year of nursing school on my first contact with elderly patients. Often, most of my colleagues in my class and in the classes ahead did not like to be assigned to elderly patients. Their approach to these elderly patients was often based on their assumption that they are unable to speak for themselves. These patients were not given adequate time to express themselves and describe their condition. They were often seen as nagging or attention seeking, and their needs were often attended to partially. In addition to this, I have experienced racism in my neighborhood where black youths are thought of as criminals and are often the first to be suspected in case of crime in the neighborhood.

Ageism negatively affects elderly persons in healthcare settings because of the approach by the healthcare professional to the elderly. This includes the quality of the medical history and physical examination conducted by the healthcare professional. The healthcare professional assumes that the elderly patient is stubborn since it may take longer to carry out these essential diagnostic activities on the elderly. The quality of in-patient care given to the elderly is greatly affected since the healthcare professional may dismiss the concerns of an elderly patient due to their assumption that they are nagging and that they have too many needs. There is limited training of healthcare professionals in geriatric medicine and this affects the attitude and quality of care provided to geriatrics.

The medical concerns of elderly people are often ignored. This is probably because of the broad nature of medical conditions that the elderly suffer from and the inability of these patients to express their complaints precisely, along with the psychological problems due to issues such as neglect by family and neurological or mental illness among most elderly patients. Neglect by family and dependence on the government and family, worsens the medical condition of these elderly patients and makes them overly dependent on the healthcare professional for both medical and emotional care and support.

A nurse can convey ethno geriatric respect and overcome ageism bias in various ways. One of these is through developing cultural competence in geriatrics. This is through gaining awareness of their personal biases and ways in which these biases may affect them professionally. In addition, the nurse should know the catchment population in which their health facility is based. These include their health related cultural values, behaviors and beliefs, disease incidence, prevalence, mortality rates and treatment outcomes. The nurse should gain skills and knowledge required in working with populations that are culturally diverse. In addition, every nurse should understand the nature of geriatric patients and identify their health needs in order to improve their treatment outcomes and to shorten their hospital stay.

References

Williams, P. W. (2009). Age Discrimination in the Delivery of Health Care Services to Our Elders. Marquette Elders Avisor.