Ageism and the Common Good in Healthcare

Running head: HEALTHCARE 1
Nursing Assignment
Student’s name
University affiliation
Author’s note

HEALTHCARE 2
In any healthcare organization, older adults are the primary consumers of services and
goods. Their presence in healthcare system grows by day within the aging society context.
Discrimination and ageist stereotypes have greatly impacted on the well-being and health of
older citizens, and potentially, they are barriers to health equality (Eymard, A. S., & Douglas,
2012). At personal levels, manifestations of ageism entail how older adults have an attitude
towards the older among the nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. There are
certain communication styles which are used by the ageists. According to the world health
organization, nearly 23 percent of the global burden of disease are attributed to people who are
aged between 60 years and above. This has caused a constant growth of the older adult patient
group within the healthcare system. Also, older people do not visit the healthcare system
frequently as they are needed despite being the major consumers.
According to the Roman Catholics, the common good is defined as the sum of social
conditions which allow humans as groups or individuals to reach their fulfillment fully and easily
(Imison et al., 2011). The common good is used in varied contexts. Initially, it has been
addressed in professional literature which pertains to political actions, ethics, health care, the
surrounding, and nursing. In nursing, the common good is acknowledged and promoted.
Additionally, the development of nursing as a profession reflects a societal acknowledgment that
the arrangement of services provided by nurses is compassionate of the common good. As such,
healthcare addresses the need to balance the protection of a person’s dignity and respect against
social honesty. By examining ethical delinquency in clinical research and the development of the
health care delivery system, common good exists among the nursing concepts.
Ageism is an extensive phenomenon. In the current society, there are few social costs
which denigrate older adults. There have been considerable battles for gender equality, gay and