Bioethics for Breakfast: Fitness, Frailty, and the Challenges of Successful Aging

Francis Komara, DO, and Scott Wamsley presented at the April 25th Bioethics for Breakfast event, offering perspectives and insight on the topic “Fitness, Frailty, and the Challenges of Successful Aging.”

In very concrete terms, what should “healthy aging” mean when we wish to be a just and caring society? We start from these facts: (1) the size of the elderly and hyper-elderly population in Michigan and nationwide is growing rapidly; (2) costly health needs are much more common among the elderly than among the non-elderly; (3) if we are completely responsive to the health needs of the elderly, will we unfairly shortchange the health needs of the non-elderly?; (4) there are great disparities among the health needs of the elderly themselves (so what do we need to do to correct that initial state of affairs?); (5) are family caregivers excessively burdened by things as they are—what can we do socially that is affordable to relieve those burdens?

How does “aging in place” work, given the five challenges listed above, especially for those elderly who are in near poverty conditions? This Bioethics for Breakfast explored these and other questions.

Francis Komara, DO
Dr. Francis Komara is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) and Director of the Geriatric Fellowship Program in the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Komara is a geriatrician who formerly practiced at the FCM clinic at MSU, and was formerly medical director of the Medical Care Facility and Rehabilitation Services of Ingham County, and medical director of McLaren Visiting Nurse & Hospice. Dr. Komara received his medical degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Scott Wamsley
Scott Wamsley is Deputy Director of the Aging & Adult Services Agency in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Wamsley has more than twenty years of experience in the field of aging services. He holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Eastern Michigan University.

About Bioethics for Breakfast:
In 2010, Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman invited the Center for Ethics to partner on a bioethics seminar series. The Center for Ethics and Hall Render invite guests from the health professions, religious and community organizations, political circles, and the academy to engage in lively discussions of topics spanning the worlds of bioethics, health law, business, and policy. For each event, the Center selects from a wide range of controversial issues and provides two presenters either from our own faculty or invited guests, who offer distinctive, and sometimes clashing, perspectives. Those brief presentations are followed by a moderated open discussion.