Abstract
The aging of the world has led the field of law to the realization that it must respond and change in order to deal with this phenomenon. One way in which law has responded to societal aging was by adopting preventive measures in the field of elder law. The Israeli legal system is only in its initial stages of establishing and implementing preventive tools for old age. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory study was twofold: First, it looked into the knowledge about, understanding of, and actual usage of preventive legal tools in old age in Israel. Second, it compared the Israeli findings to those of a similar American study. The findings of this exploratory study indicate that overall in Israel, the actual usage of preventive legal tools in old age is low both in absolute terms and compared to the American rates. Another important finding is the significant gap between the knowledge about preventive legal tools and their actual use by older adults. The findings suggest that Israel and other countries that are in their initial stages of developing preventive laws for older persons should consider broader socio-legal issues than the mere enactment of preventive legislation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-53 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments This article was prepared with the aid of a research grant provided by The Center for the Study and Research of Gerontology and the Department of Health and Welfare of Haifa University. We are sincerely grateful to them and especially to Professors Ariela Lowenstein and Ruth Katz, whose support made this research possible.
Keywords
- Advance directives
- Elder rights
- Empowerment
- Law and aging
- Preventive law
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Geriatrics and Gerontology