Assisted dying as an ageing issue: centring older people in the debate.
Assisted dying is predominantly a later-life phenomenon, yet debate and policy design rarely centre older adults' perspectives. This commentary reframes assisted dying as an ageing issue, synthesising existing research on how older people understand autonomy, suffering, dementia, dependency and end-...
| Published in: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 1 - 5 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Apr2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193500097&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193500097 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 55 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 193500097 10.1093/ageing/afag102 ppf: 1 ppct: 4 formats: tig: atl: Assisted dying as an ageing issue: centring older people in the debate. aug: au: Westwood, Sue affil: University of York, York Law School, Law and Management Building, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom su: United Kingdom Assisted suicide Autonomy (Psychology) Palliative treatment Control (Psychology) Decision making Family relations Aging Informed consent (Medical law) Religion Terminally ill Suffering Dependency (Psychology) Old age Assisted suicide laws Burden of care Conceptual structures Dementia Dementia patients sug: subj: Assisted suicide Autonomy (Psychology) Palliative treatment Control (Psychology) Decision making Family relations Aging Informed consent (Medical law) Religion Terminally ill Suffering Dependency (Psychology) Old age United Kingdom Assisted suicide laws Burden of care Conceptual structures Dementia Dementia patients keyword: ageing aging assisted assisted dying choice copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag102 inLanguage:en older adult older people publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41996565/ suicide ageing aging assisted assisted dying choice copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag102 inLanguage:en older adult older people publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41996565/ suicide ab: Assisted dying is predominantly a later-life phenomenon, yet debate and policy design rarely centre older adults' perspectives. This commentary reframes assisted dying as an ageing issue, synthesising existing research on how older people understand autonomy, suffering, dementia, dependency and end-of-life choice. While acknowledging safeguarding concerns, including those raised by the British Geriatrics Society, it argues that prevailing legal models focused on terminal prognosis or narrowly defined suffering exclude many older people experiencing cumulative decline or anticipating future loss of capacity. Greater empirical research and gerontological engagement are needed if older adults' voices are to shape future policy and practice. A gerontological framing positions high-quality palliative care and safeguarded choice as complementary rather than competing responses to later-life suffering. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|