The Challenges of Health Care for the Elderly

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Credit…Carl Godfrey

To the Editor:

Re “The Decline in Geriatric Care Hurts Us All,” by Pamela Paul (column, Jan. 17):

The blame for the relegation of geriatricians to the bottom of the medical specialty hierarchy resides with ourselves. We are a consumer society, after all. Where there is demand, a wealth of choice reigns.

But as Ms. Paul writes, elder care is seen as profoundly unglamorous, even repellent. The helplessness of babies and the old are similar, but how starkly different are the reactions. We do not rush to nursing homes as we do to maternity wards. As a modern society, as human beings, we have far to go to realize the gift of being with our elderly as the joy it is.

Deborah Plumer
Brooklyn

To the Editor:

There is much to be done to give all of us access to quality medical care as we age.

The government can increase Medicare reimbursement rates to ensure fair compensation for geriatric services, to encourage more providers to accept older patients. Private funders can support medical schools to provide scholarships, loan repayment and grants to encourage specialization in geriatrics. Medical and health professional schools can infuse geriatrics into their required curriculums. The National Institutes of Health can increase funding for research into the basic biology of aging and new approaches to age-related chronic diseases.

Finally, we must fight inaccurate, ageist and all-too-common views in health care about older adults. That will provide the foundation for delivering the kind of care to allow all of us, as we age, to make needed contributions to our families, communities and nation.

Stephanie Lederman
James Appleby
Ms. Lederman is executive director of the American Federation for Aging Research in New York. Mr. Appleby is chief executive officer of the Gerontological Society of America in Washington.

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