How to improve outcomes by tackling ageism in healthcare

With discrimination against elderly Australians widespread across our healthcare systems, the peak body for older people says addressing ageism will improve outcomes for everyone. "Ageism hurts us all. If we improve our systems for older Australians, we improve the system for everyone," chief executive of Council on the Ageing (COTA) Patricia Sparrow said. "A health system that responds well to older people is a system that treats every patient with dignity, respect and evidence-based care." Older Australians are feeling excluded and stereotyped while receiving healthcare, including life-saving treatment, according to a new report from the Human Rights Commission released today. Discrimination against older people was widespread across healthcare, and older people often felt dismissed, excluded or spoken over. Read more on The Senior: The fallout from these experiences included emotional distress, feeling depressed and disempowered and being unwilling to see a doctor or other healthcare providers. "What we heard was confronting. Older people feel dismissed, excluded and stereotyped," said Robert Fitzgerald, Age Discrimination Commissioner. "They told us they were rushed through, spoken down to, or even left out of the decisions about their own care ... They reflect ageism in the practice and policies of the healthcare system itself." The report has made recommendations for action across three areas: "As our population ages, demand on health services will only grow. This is an urgent moment for us to find out how care can be improved." The commissioner said the report did not seek to blame individual providers, and instead was an invitation for doctors, nurses and health staff to work towards better care. "To build a system where every person is treated with dignity, empathy and respect, not as a stereotype, but as a human being." Addressing ageism would benefit the entire healthcare system, which was set to come under increased pressure as Australians continue to live longer lives, Ms Sparrow said. With Australia's population ageing, one in six people are now aged over 65, a trend set to continue to one in four by 2064-65. "Practical steps such as improving training on ageism for front-line staff are important," she said. "This isn't about pointing fingers at individuals - it's about acknowledging the ageism that has been embedded in healthcare for decades and taking action to fix it. "Responsibility to address ageism sits with government, businesses, the community as a whole and each of us individually." Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.