Healthy Aging Reports

• Main Author: Francis C. Agu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2013-06-01
• Series: SAGE Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013491413

Two separate reports from the Dutch Health Council of Netherlands and Social and Cultural Planning Bureau draw our attention to the tension between certain factors specifically related to healthy aging, namely, vulnerability and independency/functioning independently. Though appearing contradictory, both concepts are very relevant in the elderly health care. Hence, the objective was to develop a conceptual and ethical analysis of vulnerability and independency. To achieve that, we conducted a conceptual analysis of more than 80 scientific and philosophical data collected from Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. Both concepts are mostly defined as separate compartments, thereby missing their intrinsic relationship. For an ethically well-argued analysis of care for the elderly, we present two new definitions in which the concept of dignity provides a fundamental basis of understanding both concepts, which are indeed two human conditions. Furthermore, we underline the implications of the new conceptualization for autonomy, and give some examples of humanly respectful empowerment strategies in the elderly care.