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Ethical Considerations and Challenges in Geriatrics pp 35–49Cite as

End-of-Life Care of Older Adults

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Abstract

Serious illness and end-of-life issues are challenging areas for clinicians caring for older adults. Patients may benefit from services offered by hospice, which cares for patients in the last 6 months of life, as well as palliative care, which offers an interdisciplinary approach focused on symptom management and supportive care for patients with serious illness of any time course. This chapter discusses indications for when it is appropriate to consider palliative care or hospice referrals for geriatric patients, as well as introducing prognostication tools available to guide these decisions and conversations. Some patients at the end of life may suffer from symptoms amenable to palliation, and others may decide to forgo or withdraw potentially life-prolonging treatments depending on their goals of care. The ethical challenge of requests for hastening death is discussed in addition to the ethical aspects of physician aid-in-dying legislation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School and Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Medical Service, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    Lara M. Skarf MD

  2. Harvard Medical School and Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Care and GRECC, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    Andrea Wershof Schwartz MD MPH

Authors
  1. Lara M. Skarf MD
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  2. Andrea Wershof Schwartz MD MPH
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lara M. Skarf MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine Section of Geriatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Angela Georgia Catic

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Skarf, L.M., Schwartz, A.W. (2017). End-of-Life Care of Older Adults. In: Catic, A. (eds) Ethical Considerations and Challenges in Geriatrics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44084-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44084-2_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44083-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44084-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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