End-of-Life Care in Geriatric Population

End-of-life care not only includes terminal care but also more widely all conditions that have become progressive and incurable. End-of-life decisions have become increasingly complex with due to evolving health systems and changing community expectation. With the advance in medical knowledge and technology over the past few decades, health professionals are confronted with difficult and complex ethical dilemmas. The multidisciplinary approach to geriatric care involves a number of health professionals; hence these issues are important to all fields of medicine. The review provides an overview of end-of-life care with highlights of the ethical issues pertaining to the elderly. These include decision-making for those with and without capacity, the right to prepare advance directives prior to the occurrence of incompetency and the right to use or refuse life-sustaining technologies. The review also discusses cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the elderly and nontreatment decisions.