YESTERDAY'S CHILDREN AND THE MAN: A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHY ABOUT AGE-BASED RATIONING OF HEALTH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES.
Contributors: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 123
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Economics, General.
Description: Aging, and the economic consequences of a greyer population, has caught the attention of policy-makers and medical ethicists in the United States. The nation's perception of older people has refocused from a view of frail, dependents to "greedy geezers," conspicuously consuming resources coveted by younger generations. Policy-makers and ethicists propose limiting (the provision of) life-saving care to older adults as one method to control burgeoning health care costs in the United States.

A critical ethnographic study was conducted to increase understanding about the concept of age-based rationing of health care to older people and to the meaning of growing old in America. A secondary purpose of the research was to reveal any oppressive elements related to the idea of withholding care to aged individuals.

The setting of the study was the state of Arizona and participants included 18 members or associates of the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging. The sample included 10 women and eight men, primarily from urban areas of the State. Ages ranged from 42 to 87.

Data were generated through a variety of qualitative techniques including interview, participant observation, field notes, and a focus group. Cognitive analytical processes, including deep reflection and defamiliarization resulted in the emergence of categories, domains, themes, and critical tales.

Domains included: On growing old; On the ability to choose; On contributing; and On being an advocate. The three themes which transcended from the data were: Life has meaning; Choosing to live is a right and a responsibility; and The cycle of life is to learn, earn, and return. A metaphor, Yesterday's Children and the Man, symbolized the overall meaning from the data and represented persons as oppressed and oppressors.

The results of this study are significant for society at large, policy-makers and politicians, medical ethicists, and health care providers. Implications for the nursing profession are critical, both as the primary advocates for those requiring care and as future recipients of age-based rationing plans.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-05, Section: B, page: 1807.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1994.

School code: 0831.