Neglect Overprotectiveness of Seniors

In serving the needs of aging adults, we’ll sometimes be asked to accommodate what we consider to be excessive risk. Maybe it’s the elderly man who wants to purchase a cane, but would be safer with a walker. The 80-year-old woman looks to be in excellent physical condition, but she’d be by far the oldest person you’ve ever guided on the adventurous travel tour she’s selected. A resident of an assisted living facility has asked you to arrange for her to celebrate her birthday with champagne, but your records indicate that she’s not to have alcohol.
     Joseph Ibrahim at Monash University has been probably the best-known proponent of the “dignity of risk” in these sorts of situations. His argument is that we providers to the elderly should ensure informed consent, but even cognitively impaired seniors usually have some capacity for expressing their preferences and making decisions. Get signed waivers if necessary, but shun overprotectiveness. Encourage elderly adults to step out from any excessively cautious self-imposed limitations. Allow them to experience the thrills from fulfilling their wishes, even in the face of possible injury or perhaps expedited death.
     This argument makes sense within what’s known about the psychology of seniors. As we get older, we do become increasingly cautious. Caution serves us well when it comes to avoiding scams, but not when it comes to avoiding risks in ways which lead to sadness.
     Attention to the dignity of risk does fit a zeitgeist in society. From the two old skydiving guys in year 2007’s “The Bucket List” up and through the squad of old cheerleading gals in year 2019’s “Poms,” the message of grab it before you’re gone prevails. There’s an important difference between those movies, though. In the first, both protagonists are already terminally ill and the physical danger in their escapades is high. In the second, only one protagonist has the bad medical prognosis and the dangers include ridicule as much as broken bones. The spirit of the times is that you no longer need to be facing imminent death in order to take inordinate risks.
     Contemplate how much of that spirit you choose to inspire you, though. I admit Prof. Ibrahim might be taking it too far. The lead sentence in a policy paper he co-authored advocating for the dignity of risk in serving the aged reads, “Live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse.”

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