Abstract
In this chapter we explore the question which ethical arguments arise when demanding personal responsibility for lifestyle from the elderly in health policy. Even if the focus on personal responsibility were acceptable for younger citizens (and we believe this to be the case to a certain extent), it is not self-evident that this applies equally to the elderly. We start by describing what we mean by personal responsibility and how the trend of personal responsibility is present in health policy for the elderly. After that, we analyse what arguments pro and contra responsibilisation are mentioned in the literature, and how these general arguments apply to the specific group of the elderly. We conclude by focussing on a specific case of policy, that is, the health check for elder people.
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Struijs, A., Have, M. (2013). Healthy Aging and Personal Responsibility. In: Schermer, M., Pinxten, W. (eds) Ethics, Health Policy and (Anti-) Aging: Mixed Blessings. Ethics and Health Policy, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3870-6_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3870-6_18
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