Religious Studies Unit 3 - The Elderly

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  • Created by: T999
  • Created on: 20-05-17 14:46

The Elderly

Retirement - Point at which person stops working for their living 

Elderly - People over certain age - perhaps 65-70 + older. 

UK retirement age - 65. 

More people choosing to continue to work because:

- Need more money than state pension gives you.

- Want and feel able to work 

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Problems faced by Elderly

- Ageism - Predjudice against people because of their age e.g. taking advantage, bullying, assuming they can't do something, forcing retirement

- Health Issues - Body + Brain less effecient. Problems w/ ill health + age related illnesses like diabetes + arthiritus. Worsening mobility

- Financial Issues -State pension not huge, many elderly struggle to live comfortably on just that

- Death - loss of friends, family, + concerns over their own death + what happens to their body and family. 

- Loneliness - Partner may have died, live far from family or no family and few/no friends left.

- Mental health - Dementia and Alzheimer's age related 

Death - End of life, usually confirmed by brain stem no longer functioning 

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Caring for Elderly

Many elderly don't need support. Look after themselves, have enough money, family+friends, live fulfilled lives. Volunteer abroad or in community.

Need help from family - e.g. taking them shopping. But self reliant every other way.

Some elderly need access to support services from local gov e.g. meals on wheels. Can still live in their own homes. Some need home help where someone is paid to check on them and do small jobs several times a week.

Some live in sheltered accomodation - close to support through warden system. May access other gov support as part of this.

Some live in care homes for elderly. Often unable to look after themselves fully so need 24/7 support.

Care home - Home for elderly where their needs catered for day + night.

Quality of life- how good someone's life is based on their physical or mental health. 

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Religious Beliefs for Life after Death

Life after death - Belief that after death we will have life again, either through ressurection, rebirth or reincarnation

Christianity 

- Believe in physical ressurection of the body

- At death, body waits until judgement day - Catholics call purgatory.

-At judgement person faces God and Jesus to evaluate their deeds. God in life go to heaven, which is paradise forever. If they were bad they go to hell for eternal punishment. 

Buddhism

- Buddhist believe in rebirth 

- No permanent soul, but a mix of ever chaning skandhas - emotions, feelings, intelligence. 

- After death of the body, skandhas fuse with an egg and sperm at conception. The thoughts, actions + intentions of each life shape quality of next. Goal to achieve enlightenement + stop being reborn.

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Caring for the dying

Terminal Illness - Illness that will lead to death and cannot be cured. 

Some people die at home with family, having been looked after by family. If they have a terminal illness they are likely to be supported by organisations like macmillan nurses (cancer) as well as the NHS.

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The Hospice Movement

Hospice - plave where the terminally ill can be cared for in their last days 

Hospices provide specialist care. They differ from hospitals because: -Patients don't recover - terminally ill and on average stay 2 weeks before they die

-Money to run hospices come from charity

-There are many more professionals for the number of patients than in hospitals 

-Hospices try to care for all of a person's needs - not just to relieve physical symptons of illness.

How Hospices help their patients:- Nurse use any means to get rid of pain inc massage and therapies

- Educate people about hospice care so people donate and understand their work 

- Care for emotional +spirtual well being of patient many confused + angry + worry about family and items they leave behind.

-They faciliate support networks for families - they are also suffering

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Supporting those mourning

Mouring - experiencing sadness because of the death of somone 

Some people mourn before person has died. They have to think of a future without that person, but also help them get their matters in order as well as supporting them.

Mourners  need support like couselling, kind words, help with doing jobs and legal advice 

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How religions help for caring for the Dying

- Some religons set up hospices 

-They help the dying by giving them an idea of what will happen after they die. They give pastoral care- visiting the dying, praying with them, helping sort out their affairs

-They help those who are mourning in a similar way, reassuring them about the dying person, listening to them in their grief, helping them plan funerals. 

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What is euthanasia

Euthansia - mercy killing; a gentle death; helping someone to die who is terminally ill or has a degenerative illness and is suffering or on a life support machine w/ no hope of recovery; it can be active, passive, voluntary or involunary. 

With the exception of switching off life support under certain conditons, euthanisa is illegal in UK. Punshiable under Suicide Act (1961), can lead to sentence of up to 14 years. 

Life support - medical processes, equipment and support to keep a person alive when their own body is not functioning and they are likely to die otherwise. 

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Types of Euthanasia

Active - Where something is done that leads directly to death, e.g. giving someone a lethal injection 

Passive - Where support is taken away allowing illness to kill the person e.g. switching off life support.

Voluntary - Where dying person asks to be helped to die, they know they are terminally ill +don't want to suffer anymore 

Non Voluntary - Dying person unable to ask for euthansia but their family sees it as the best option because person is on life support + won't recover. 

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For and Against Euthanasia

For

-It's our life so should be our right to decide when we have had enough

-Act of compassion when medicane can't do any more

-For some people life is so wretched they should be able to choose to die

-No point keeping body alive if no hope for recovery 

Against

-Life given by God, so only God has right to decide when it ends

-Euthansia form of murder

-To allow euthanasia would encourage it, people would abuse it - e.g. claim inheritance 

- Person may need to suffer to make up for things they have done

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Life support Machine Issue

Series of machines help them to alive. Continue this if believe patient could recover. 

In case of final stages of terminal or degenerative illness they know recovery isn't possible. If patient is in persistant vegetive state. 

Dr believe perosn won't recover, recommend to switch off life support machine,allowing them to die.

This is passive euthansia, but doctor cannot be prosectued because it is really an acknowledgement that the person was already dead. 

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Religious attitudes to Euthansia

Sancity of Life - Belief that life is special and/or sacred, ebcause God made it or because of the soul or anatta. 

God has a plan for each of us, which doesn't include an unnatural end to our life.

The worst thing someone can do is to kill someone, it goes agains the core rules of every relgiion.

Also for those religions that teach rebirth and/or reincarnation, suffering being lived through helps to repay bad karma, and so is positive in this way- the suffeirng will have to be faced in some lifetime. So active and voluntary euthanasia is wrong. 

Many religions see it as wrong to switch off life support machine unless no chance of recovery. Some people thing God will eventually intervene. However, the vast majortiy of religious beleivers would see passive euthanasia as accpetable - a necessary evil to end suffering. 

Some religious beleivers see euthansia as the final medical help a dr can give, and a gift from God. 

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Christian teachings for Elderly and Death

All religions teach 

-stewardship, sancity of life, companionship

Christianity 

- Honour your father and mother (ten commandments)

- God gives and God takes life (old testament)

-Do not kill (ten commandments)

- Following Natural law means that the end of life should be natural, not man made (Roman Catholic teaching)

- Doctors do not have an overriding obligation to prolog life by all means available - C of E

- God gives life, and God takes life away (Pslams)

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Buddhist and Islam teachings for Elderly and Death

Buddhist

-We may carry our mothers on one shoulder, and our fathers on the other, and look after them for a hundred years... we will still be in debt to them

-Metta and compassion for all sentient beings 

-1st precept is help, not harm, other sentient beings

-Primary guiding principle in buddhism is relief of suffering

-In the event a perosn is definitly going to die...and prolonging his existence is only going to cause suffering, the termination of his life may be permitted according to Mahayana Buddhist ethics (Dalai Lama)

Islam

Neither kill nor destroy yourself (Qu'ran)

No one can die except by Allahs leave, that is a decree with a fixed term (Qu'ran)

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