Introduction: Elderly people in their need for medical treatment and care for their health are entering the health care system at all its levels. They belong to vulnerable groups. It often happens that they become victims of various forms of violence, discrimination, exclusion, etc. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to present the most common ethical aspects that arise in the medical treatment of the elderly. Methods: We used a qualitative approach, namely a descriptive method with a systematic review of domestic and foreign literature in the field of nursing and medicine. The time frame covered the literature from 2017 to 2022. It was searched through remote access in the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases and through the PubMED, DiKUL and COBISS.si search engines. We also used the archive of Obzornik zdravstvene nege. In the final analysis 15 articles were included. Results: We identified three main ethical aspects that emerge in relation to the elderly: the discriminatory treatment aspect, the pharmacological aspect and the dementia aspect with other ethical aspects. Old age is appearing both in Slovenia and abroad. It increased even more during the pandemic. It has been confirmed that social isolation has a negative impact on the lives of the elderly, as it increases the risk of neurological and cardiovascular diseases, depression, cognitive decline and mortality among the elderly. Also, at the time of the pandemic, chronological age was used as a criterion in deciding on treatment. Elderly patients are underrepresented in clinical trials of drugs and treatments. Ethical dilemmas are triggered by both forced medication and prophylactic drug treatment. Caring for residents with advanced dementia and end-of-life pain is a clinical and ethical challenge, as it is challenging to find the right balance of analgesics and distinguish pain from anxiety. They also found that the elderly have unmet physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs, which is associated with poor outcomes in patients. Discussion and conclusion: Age discrimination is the most frequently discussed topic in articles related to the elderly. This is followed by violence against the elderly, dementia and articles in the field of treatment of the elderly. We believe that there is still too little discussion about old age in society (especially in Slovenia). It would make sense to involve the professional and lay public, decision-makers, academics and researchers in the public hearing on the elderly. At the same time, nurses must not forget their role as advocates for patients.
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