The Human Rights of Older Persons: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Elder Law

by Bridget Lewis, Kelly Purser, Kirsty Mackie

Overview

This book provides a comprehensive human rights analysis of key areas of law affecting older persons, including legal capacity; elder abuse; accommodation and aged care; healthcare; employment; financial security, retirement, and estate planning; and social and cultural participation. The research identifies individual autonomy and participation in decision-making as fundamental to a human rights-based approach to elder law. The book argues that a paradigm shift must occur away from traditional medical and charity-based understandings of ‘old age’ to instead acknowledge older persons as active holders of enforceable rights. The book argues that a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons is an essential tool in achieving this, but that even without a dedicated treaty there is much to be gained from a human rights-based approach. Significantly, because the issues arising in ‘old age’ are often the culmination of experiences occurring throughout the life course, a human rights-based approach to elder law must begin with a commitment to human rights for people of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789811567377
Publisher:	Springer Nature Singapore
Publication date:	08/07/2020
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bridget Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a member of the Planning for Healthy Ageing research group at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. She has published widely on a range of human rights issues, particularly the application of international human rights law to contemporary issues such as climate change and natural disasters, with a focus on the rights of vulnerable groups.

Kelly Purser is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a co-lead of the Planning for Healthy Ageing research group at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. Her research focuses on the challenges presented by capacity assessment and the ageing population.

Kirsty Mackie is a nationally recognised elder law practitioner with a strong interest in elder abuse, advocacy, and law reform. She works in the Legal Placement Unit at the University of the Sunshine Coast and is also a Guest Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology on elder abuse. She has appeared as an expert on national television to discuss elder law issues.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Problem.- Chapter 2. A Human Rights Based-approach to Elder Law.- Chapter 3. The Existing International Response to Protecting the Rights of Older People.- Chapter 4. Legal Capacity and Decision-making.- Chapter 5. Healthcare, Palliative Care and End of Life.- Chapter 6. Employment Rights.- Chapter 7. Financial Management, Retirement and Estate planning.- Chapter 8. Accommodation and Aged Care.- Chapter 9. Social and Cultural Rights of Older Persons.- Chapter 10. Conclusion and Future Directions.