How does Ageism occur?
Ageism may be a matter of policy or of practice. Examples of ageist policy include the exclusion of older people from coronary care units [1] or making restriction of the admission of people aged over 80 to acute hospitals a target of the National Service Framework for Older People. Ageist practice is more common and examples include medically unjustifiable withholding of thrombolytic therapy from older people with heart attacks [2] and inferior quality of care provided for older people with heart disease [3] or cancer [4].
