Ethics and the Elderly: The Challenge of Long-Term Care

A study of long-term care through the lens of the Catholic ethical tradition, offering a history of the ethics of caregiving, a snapshot of the contemporary situation in the U.S., biblical perspectives on aging and eldercare, and models for future care.

A survey of gerontological ethics and long-term care, offering a history of the ethics of caregiving, an analysis of the present situation vis a vis contemporary society and Christian perspectives, and some models for future care that incorporate an ethical "responsibility to care." Academic but accessible, this text will be a valuable textbook but also appeal to non-academic audiences dealing with the growing field of eldercare, and will also provide a useful tool for reflection for Catholic ethicists and medical providers.

This timely reflection will appear at a historical moment where an aging population, advances in medical care, and the rising costs of such care across the board have made ethics of health care a pressing national question.