2020 Fall GAPNA Newsletter Volume 39 Issue 3

Allocating Scarce Resources in the COVID-19 Era

A new position statement published by the American Geriatrics Society focuses on whether age should be considered when making decisions to allocate scarce resources during pandemics like COVID-19.

The new statement, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (doi:10.1111/jgs.16537), includes seven principles aimed at helping develop strategies to focus on the most relevant clinical factors for each person and case when considering how to distribute needed supplies and tools fairly, without placing arbitrary weight on age.