"With your age, what do you expect?": Ageism and healthcare of older adults in Spain

Abstract

Introduction: Ageism could influence the relationship between older patients' meeting needs and healthcare professionals' answers.

Aims: To highlight the experience of older adults with healthcare systems, how they perceive ageism from their healthcare providers, and to explore the relationship between perceived ageism and self-perception of aging (SPA).

Methods: We conducted an exploratory qualitative study. The participants were 14 women over 65 who lived alone in their homes.

Results: Professional responses ignored the expression of preferences of the older patients and excluded them from decision-making processes. These answers influenced older patients' use of health services. Moreover, the negative aspects predominated in a SPA influenced by the internalization of stereotypes and a relationship weighed down by ageist behaviors on the part of health professionals.

Conclusion: Explicit situations of ageism influence an imbalance in power relations between older patients and healthcare professionals, a misuse of health services, and a negative SPA.

Keywords: Ageism; Health services for the aged; Health services misuse; Healthcare disparities; Social discrimination.