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Developing an anti-ageist approach within law

21 Sep 2009

This paper suggests an approach to evaluating legislation through an anti-ageist "lens," focusing on two areas that may be subject to legislation and that will tend to disproportionately affect older adults: substitute decision making and elder abuse and exploitation. The evaluative lens used asks the following general questions: Does the legislation reflect negative ageist stereotypes and/or paternalistic attitudes (explicitly or implicitly)? Is the policy or legislation based on the unarticulated premise that with age comes increasing incompetence and decreasing intellectual capacity? Are there sufficient mechanisms provided for by the legislation to prevent or protect against the legislation being implemented in an ageist manner (including the acting-out of individual ageism, given the prevalence of ageist attitudes)? Does the legislation respond appropriately to the real needs of older persons as a group (understanding that older adults are extremely diverse), recognising that older adults generally are situated differently from younger people and have different needs?

health human rights government politics domestic violence crime violence discrimination copyright culture law power of attorney older people elder abuse abuse charter court assault canadian charter of rights and freedoms fundamental rights ethical principles section 7 ageism capacity (law) section 15 applied ethics

Authors

Hall, Margaret

Pages
69
Published in
Canada

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