Working with terminally ill older women: can a feminist perspective add new insight and direction?

Abstract

While sexism and ageism in the health care system have been systematically documented, nowhere is the treatment of aging women more androcentric than in the care for the terminally ill. In fact, a terminally ill older woman is too often disadvantaged by a health care system which excludes her from decision-making and renders her powerless. In response, we propose a feminist approach to health care for terminally ill older women and argue that it is this approach which will not only put knowledge and power into the hands of women, but will change the fundamental ways in which women approach death.