The End of a Persons Life - Assignment Example

Demand for long-term care in developing countries will increase by about 400% in the coming decades (WHO, n.d.). This can be attributed to the fact that there has been a drastic change in the social structure. E.g., families are having fewer children and more young people are migrating from rural to urban areas and from poorer to richer countries, leaving poorer areas and countries without enough caregivers. Furthermore, women who have traditionally been caregivers in society are joining the labor force as a result of economic necessity or personal desire.

This has resulted in their becoming unable to continue to provide care to the chronically ill. Despite the growing need for chronic care, healthcare organizations in most countries, including those of the U.S., have focused mostly on acute care. This is probably because acute diseases like organ failure, rapid-spreading infections, and breathing difficulties require immediate medical attention due to their life-threatening possibilities (Anderson, 2011). However, in light of the increase in chronic illnesses and disabilities, and the limited resources available, the healthcare systems across the world have to prepare themselves to face this challenge and address some of the ethical dilemmas regarding providing long-term care to the affected population.

Several ethical dilemmas and challenges arise as a result of the increase in chronic illness and disabilities. They involve determining who gets the care and how much. Who is responsible to take care of chronically ill and disabled people? Who should make decisions for those who are not able to make decisions for themselves? It is therefore very important for nations across the world to ensure that the benefits, responsibilities, and burdens are allocated fairly so that social justice prevails.

Traditionally, caring for chronically ill patients has been the responsibility of the family and has been guided by various religious, philosophical, political, and cultural values. But there have not been sufficient support structures in place to ensure that this responsibility does not wear the family down with its physical, social, and economic demands and to equally allocate the benefits and burdens of social cooperation (WHO, n.d.). Therefore, to ensure that the chronically ill and disabled members of society are not exploited or neglected and are given the respect and dignity that they deserve, the WHO (n.d.) has considered the following aspects: 1.

The basic obligation of care must be recognized and a conscious effort must be taken to provide a ‘reasonable’ level of care to the chronically ill. 2. Care-giving responsibilities should be shared by both men and women as traditionally this responsibility has disproportionately fallen on women. 3. Resource allocation should not be biased as a result of the age or the extent of disability of the individual. 4. Chronically ill people living in isolated rural areas are challenged by special needs and vulnerabilities that should be addressed. 5. Respect for persons and not the productive capacity of individuals should be considered while making decisions. 6. The decision to institutionalize a person should not be made as a result of desperation but after carefully analyzing all possible options.
Establishing healthcare services for the chronically ill is a tedious and grinding process. However, it should ensure that each person, particularly the weak and the vulnerable, is treated with justice and dignity and that the services are not biased based on the age, gender, or degree of disability of the individual.