Geriatric Medical Decisions: Factors Influencing Allocation of Scarce Resources and the Decision to Withhold Treatment

Correlates of Adult Cancer Patients' Decision-Making Behaviors About Treatment

“…Second, our study was based on a heterogeneous sample of cancer patients with various treatment options available to them. We cannot rule out that the physicians' presentation of treatment options differed, for example, between younger and older patients (e.g., Wetle, Cwinkel, & Levkoff, 1988), and that the phrasing of decision problems may have influenced the patients' participation in their treatment decisions (Malloy et al, 1992). Thus, more research is needed on how patients' decision-making behavior is influenced in samples that are homogenized according to the type of cancer, stage, and treatment options offered.…”

Case Managers and Physicians: Communication and Perceived Problems

“…Mullaly 23 suggests that in the western system of health care, an individual's difficulties are defined and treated from a medical perspective. This tendency of our health case system to consult doctors and utilize the physician as a primary gate keeper has the effect of undervaluing the capabilities and insights of the social worker or nurse case manager 23 .…”

“…Mullaly 23 suggests that in the western system of health care, an individual's difficulties are defined and treated from a medical perspective. This tendency of our health case system to consult doctors and utilize the physician as a primary gate keeper has the effect of undervaluing the capabilities and insights of the social worker or nurse case manager 23 . These case managers often felt excluded from decision making concerning medical issues or hospitalization, despite possessing valuable insights, whereas, from the case manager's perspective, a doctor's input is often requested in the process of problem solving.…”

Life‐Sustaining Technologies: Value Issues

“…Another factor potentially influencing equity of access to life-sustaining medical technologies is the patient's chronological age. Studies demonstrate that many physicians consider a patient's age-even where it is not determinative of the patient's prognosis-as an important factor in deciding upon the aggressiveness with which the patient should be treated (Wetle, Cwikel, & Levkoff, 1988). That is, old age in itself may be a risk factor for undertreatment (Neu & Kjellstrand, 1986).…”