Ageism in Healthcare: Discriminative Practices and Prevention

Ageism is a prevalent discriminative practice involving over and under treatment of elderly patients as well as usage of ageist speech by healthcare professionals caring for aged patients, due to possession of stereotypes considering old age. Nurses must hence prevent the ageism, by conducting adequate assessment, diagnosis and treatment, adherence to respectful, optimistic speech and performance of evidence based research.

Running head: AGEISM IN HEALTHCARE
AGEISM IN HEALTHCARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1AGEISM IN HEALTHCARE
Answer of Question 1
One of the most common examples of ageism as observed by Kydd and Fleming (2015),
is under and over treatment. Under treatment occurs when healthcare professionals dismiss the
symptomatic complaints presented by an aged person, such as pains, aches, fatigue or distress, as
a normal and inevitable part of the ageing process, instead of conducting comprehensive
assessments to detect the true problem. Over treatment occurs when physicians exaggerate the
health condition of the aged person, with unnecessary screenings of prostate cancer being a key
example (Ouchida & Lachs, 2015).
Answer of Question 2
As observed by Wilson et al., (2017), under treatment may lead to detrimental health
effects in the aged patient due to ignorance and lack of adequate screening of underlying health
conditions. Over treatment resulting in unnecessary screenings may lead to high financial costs
and complications due to unnecessary surgery in the elderly. Negative stereotyping of ageing
leads to detrimental emotional and psychological effects in the elderly patient, resulting in loss of
self-esteem and self-confidence. Elderly patients may then start viewing ageing as a liability
rather than as a novel and rewarding phase of life (Ben-Harush et al., 2017).
Answer of Question 3
Nurses must prevent their dismissal of an elderly patient’s health condition as merely
‘normal’ and engage in comprehensive health assessments which will result in provision of
adequate diagnosis and treatment. Conductance of evidence based research on the possible

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pathologies associated with ageing, may further encourage them to conduct adequate ageing
treatment (Swift et al., 2017). Nurses must also refrain from using ageist speech and
discriminative or condescending comments while conversing with elderly patients and
communicate with respect and optimism. Nurses must not converse in loud and overly simplistic
terms, unless specifically requested (Nelson, 2016).
Response to Student 1
Ageism is a prevalent discriminative practice involving over and under treatment of
elderly patients as well as usage of ageist speech by healthcare professionals caring for aged
patients, due to possession of stereotypes considering old age (Ouchida & Lachs, 2015). Under
treating elderly patients upon complaints of symptoms may result in detrimental health outcomes
due to lack of adequate assessment and diagnosis by healthcare professionals who disregard the
severity of symptoms as being normal in old age. Over treatment such as forced surgeries may
further pose complications and high financial expenditures among aged patients (Kydd &
Flemming, 2015). Such discrimination may hinder positive self-esteem and confidence among
the elderly (Ben-Harush et al., 2017). Nurses must hence prevent the ageism, by conducting
adequate assessment, diagnosis and treatment, adherence to respectful, optimistic speech and
performance of evidence based research (Nelson, 2016).
Response to Student 2
One of the most discriminative practices prevalent among healthcare professionals is the
usage of ageism towards elderly patients, such as over and under treatment, along with
conductance of ageist speech (Ouchida & Lachs, 2015). Over treating elderly patients by forcing

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them to undertake surgeries as necessary for old age, may result in high costs and additional
health complications. Similarly, health professionals also under treat elderly patients, dismissing
their symptoms to be common for old age, which may further lead to serious health
complications due to lack of adequate assessment and diagnosis of underlying health conditions
(Kydd & Flemming, 2015). Low self-esteem and negativity concerning old age are key
implications suffered by the elderly due to ageism (Ben-Harush et al., 2017). Through
conductance of evidence based research, adequate health assessment and prevention of
discriminative, unnecessarily loud and condescending comments during patient communication
are ways by which nurses can prevent ageism (Nelson, 2016).

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References
Ben-Harush, A., Shiovitz-Ezra, S., Doron, I., Alon, S., Leibovitz, A., Golander, H., ... & Ayalon,
L. (2017). Ageism among physicians, nurses, and social workers: findings from a
qualitative study. European journal of ageing, 14(1), 39-48.
Kydd, A., & Fleming, A. (2015). Ageism and age discrimination in health care: Fact or fiction?
A narrative review of the literature. Maturitas, 81(4), 432-438.
Nelson, T. D. (2016). Promoting healthy aging by confronting ageism. American
Psychologist, 71(4), 276.
Ouchida, K. M., & Lachs, M. S. (2015). Not for doctors only: Ageism in
healthcare. Generations, 39(3), 46-57.
Swift, H. J., Abrams, D., Lamont, R. A., & Drury, L. (2017). The risks of ageism model: How
ageism and negative attitudes toward age can be a barrier to active aging. Social Issues
and Policy Review, 11(1), 195-231.
Wilson, D. M., Nam, M. A., Murphy, J., Victorino, J. P., Gondim, E. C., & Low, G. (2017). A
critical review of published research literature reviews on nursing and healthcare
ageism. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(23-24), 3881-3892.