Catholic Social Thought and Aged Care in Australia

This editorial discusses the issues of elder abuse and neglect in aged care facilities in Australia and how Catholic social thought emphasizes the importance of dignity and common good in healthcare. The article also highlights the role of nurses in respecting the dignity of patients and providing care for the aged.

Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1NURSING
In comparison to the populations around the world, it has been estimated that more than
20,000 unreported cases relating to exploitation, neglect and abuses have been reported in
Victoria and more than 100,000 cases have been reported throughout Australia every year. Other
estimated that have been conducted have revealed that the 25,000 cases have been reported from
Queensland, and 20,000 New South Wales. Almost as many as four times the incidents of the
exploitation, neglect and abuse is reported by the protective Services agencies and the other
ombudsman agencies. The predictions made are accurate for Australia and this in future might
increase from 20,000 to 400,000. This open editorial will focus on the abuse or neglect in the
aged in Australia (Ohchr.org., 2019). This will be cross examined with the issues relating to
realization of common good, and dignity of the human person.
According to the Catholic social thought, the dignity of the human person is revered and
the old age is specially considered as an integral part of the spiritual journey which gives a
direction and meaning to the entire life. the main goal of the journey is to have a union with God.
As a nurse I have seen and faced issues relating to elder abuse in the aged care facilities. The
elder people is subjected to the financial, sexual, emotional, psychological and physical abuse.
This needs to end because the abuse can be both due to unintentional neglect or as a result of the
intentional neglect. It is important to mention that the dignity and human value alone belongs to
the human beings by virtue of the fact that the elder people are also humans (Sison, Ferrero &
Guitián, 2016). Healthcare professionals and Nurses are taken into account to respect the dignity
of clients, patients. The central value of nursing exists within the nursing codes of respecting for
dignity. The care for the aged can be regarded as a necessary aspect because nurses must respect
the dignity, right to choice and life, cultural rights, and respect the human rights and they must be
treated with respect. According to the Catholic social thought, the dignity of a human person is

2NURSING
of paramount importance because humans are created in the image of god and likeness of god.
Therefore, the church calls for an integral human development and likewise the nurses must be
concerned with the wellbeing of each of the person in every dimension including spiritual,
ecological, social, political and economic (Mayer, 2012).
The common good is like a set of the optimal conditions that allows both the players and
he team to succeed. It has been explained that common good is a sum of the social conditions
that allow individuals, groups and people to reach a fulfilment in an easy way. Sometimes,
common good is also represented as a set of optimal condition that means sacrificing for the
whole. When viewing from the perspective of Catholic social thought, that there should be a
model which will be emphasized on the standard model of healthcare delivery (McCann, 2014).
The guidelines are based on the social ethics, and virtue of love. God’s commandment has asked
to cultivate the civilization of love and it is the only force that can lead to social perfection and
personal perfection. Thus, it is important to mention that the aged person must be cared by others
out of pure charity and love. Within this perspective, both the charity and solidarity can help the
society to strive for common good. The main goal is to reduce any kind of disparity and increase
the aged care provisions for the elder people by making the healthcare assessable to aged people
irrespective of health conditions, gender, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status (Waters et al.,
2017).
From the above open editorial discussion, it can be concluded that the Catholic social
thought of common good and dignity of humans are the two most important part. It has a direct
role with the way care is provided to the aged patients through the caregivers. Abuse in aged care
is one of the prime issue and it will can be set right with the application of Catholic social
thoughts.

3NURSING

4NURSING
Reference
Mayer, L. M. (2012). Social Work Practice with People with Disabilities: Enhancing Practice
through Catholic Social Teaching. Social Work & Catholicity, 39(2).
McCann, D. P. (2014). Who is responsible for the common good? Catholic social teaching and
the praxis of subsidiarity. In The common good: Chinese and American perspectives (pp.
261-289). Springer, Dordrecht.
Ohchr.org. (2019). Facts on Elder Abuse - Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/OlderPersons/Submissions/ElderAbusePreventi
onAssociation.pdf
Sison, A. J. G., Ferrero, I., & Guitián, G. (2016). Human dignity and the dignity of work:
Insights from Catholic social teaching. Business Ethics Quarterly, 26(4), 503-528.
Waters, N. P., Schmale, T., Goetz, A., Eberl, J. T., & Wells, J. H. (2017). A call to promote
healthcare justice: A summary of integrated outpatient clinics exemplifying principles of
Catholic social teaching. The Linacre Quarterly, 84(1), 57-73.