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Elderly, Power relations and Bioethics: Discussions from vulnerability ethics

Abstract
The last years of our lives, which in the past were regularly spent at home, where sickness and death were everyday events of family life that were processed at home, have now been moved to hospitals. Older patients are particularly vulnerable during the process of giving a truly informed consent and making decisions, particularly in a hospital environment. In addition to suffering from medical conditions or physical disabilities that hinder communication, the very fact of being elders in a society such as ours, makes them subject to exclusion and even discrimination. What moral conflicts arise when there is a possibility of discontinuing or limiting medical treatment to maintain or prolong an old person's life? Which is the relation between moral conflicts and power at the time of making decisions? What ethical implications can we find when we look at this situation from the point of view of patients' vulnerability? This article explores the relation among power, ethics, and decision making involved in the process of giving treatment to older people considered vulnerable at the end of their lives.

Key words
vulnerability, power relations, elderly, bioethics

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