Our aging societies: ethical, moral, and policy challenges

The aging of industrialized nations poses grave ethical, moral, and policy challenges for health professionals and our societies. The demand for both acute and long-term health care for the elderly will increasingly strain the economic resources of older persons and our nations. These pressures generate a number of difficult issues for our aging societies. Three of the most important issues are: (1) How aggressive should curative medical treatment be for severely demented patients?; (2) How should the financial burden of long-term care be distributed between the public and private sectors?; (3) Should public policies establish old-age-based limits on acute medical care in order to conserve resources? These issues are complex, of great importance, and require substantial reflection and discussion by health care professionals and the public at-large.