What do we owe the elderly? Allocating social and health care resources

The purpose of this report is to present the reflections of an international research group that focused its attention on the moral problems of care for the elderly in the years ahead, and in particular on the problem of an equitable and reasonable allocation of resources. By stressing the "moral" problems, we mean to call attention to an often neglected dimension of the public and professional discussion: that of the obligations owed to the elderly by individuals and society, the reciprocal obligations on the part of the elderly, and the ethical dilemmas that sensitive care for them cannot avoid. Most generally, we want to call attention to the often hidden value issues and considerations of a discussion that, in most countries, is restricted to economic and institutional arrangements only.