Millard P H
J Med Ethics. 1976 Dec;2(4):193-9. doi: 10.1136/jme.2.4.193.
Two doctors attempt to answer this question, one a specialist in geriatric medicine, the other a psychiatrist interested in the psychiatric problems of the elderly and the old. Both, however, come to the same general conclusion: attitudes of the doctors themselves and of society must be changed. These attitudes can determine not only whether an old person lives or dies but how he lives. Old people should not have to survive in mentally suspended animation with all objectives gone but should be helped to achieve the goal of an independent life until death in their own homes. The third paper in this miniature symposium is provided by David Hobman, of Age Concern, who amplifies the specialist views of the first two writers in his discussion of attitudes to the elderly in modern society. He hints, however, that these may shortly change as the elderly become a sophisticated and powerful lobby which governments are forced to heed.
两位医生试图回答这个问题，一位是老年医学专家，另一位是关注老年人精神问题的精神病医生。然而，两人得出了相同的总体结论：医生自身以及社会的态度必须改变。这些态度不仅能决定老年人的生死，还能决定其生活方式。老年人不应在所有目标都已消逝的精神停滞状态中生存，而应得到帮助，以实现在自己家中独立生活直至离世的目标。本次小型研讨会的第三篇论文由“关注老年人协会”的大卫·霍布曼撰写，他在讨论现代社会对老年人的态度时，进一步阐述了前两位作者的专业观点。不过，他暗示，随着老年人成为一个成熟且有影响力的游说团体，迫使政府予以关注，这些态度可能很快就会改变。
