COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will examine a variety of ethical dilemmas posed by an aging society and faced by professionals in their work with older persons. Among the generic issues to be examined are: respect for persons (autonomy vs. paternalism, self-determinati on, informed consent, truth-telling); beneficence (assessing risks and benefits); and justice (just ways to distribute burdens and benefits). Among the substantive issues to be considered are: the use of chronological age as a criterion in the allocation of scarce health-care and other resources; the roles of families, patients, and medical personnel in decisions to forego life-sustaining treatment; limits on patient and client autonomy in decision-making; relationships among health-care personnel and so cial service providers; and the use of older subjects in biomedical, behavioral, and social research.