Supported Decision-Making Service

Supported Decision-Making Service for Persons with Disabilities | Service Model

The Human Rights Center for People with Disabilitis

Decision Making Model for Senior Citizens

Prof. Israel (Issi) Doron

Preface

Israeli society is aging. It is in the midst of a demographic transformation from a young society to

one in which the fastest growing group is the 65 and over age bracket. The aging of Israeli society

presents opportunities for a revaluation and renewal of attitudes toward the "new older adults",

but there is also a danger of increased discrimination and alienation of all persons who are not

members of the "young" hegemonic group. In addition, these new social circumstances emerge

against the backdrop of an increased awareness of the social phenomenon known as "Ageism",

which like other social phenomena, such as racism or sexism, embodies negative social structuring

of old age and discrimination of a social group labeled as weak and impotent simply because of

its chronological age (Doron, 2012).

Specifically, and from the perspective of protecting the rights of senior citizens, the appointment

of guardians for senior citizens is a major issue that reflects the ageist conceptualization of senior

citizens' status in Israel, alongside the illustration of the materialization of the typical paternalistic

approach to protecting older adults and senior citizens who are regarded as a weak and helpless

group. Thus, the need to expose the injurious aspects of the legal structure of the guardianship

institution as it currently exists under applicable Israeli law, and to present practicable alternatives

which are not only less injurious but also empower and strengthen the population of senior

citizens in Israel, is a very important challenge. This document, ancillary to the important project

of presenting a supported decision-making model, is therefore another step in the effort to bring

about a social-legal change in this area.

A. The situation prior to Amendment 18 to the Legal Capacity and Guardianship

Law and the problems associated with it: Senior citizens under guardianship in

Israel

A.1. The situation prior to Amendment 18

This schedule was documented before the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law (Amendment

No. 18), 5776-2016, was approved in April 2016. A comprehensive overview of the ramifications

of the amendment exceeds the scope of this document and a concise summary of the amendment is

included in

of this report. It is clear that this latest amendment is meant to dramatically

change legal reality surrounding guardianship in general and guardianship for senior citizens in

particular. However, since it is still unclear whether this change will, in fact, take effect and how

far reaching this change might be, it is important to understand the situation that was in place (and

still is place at the practical level) at the time of writing and publication of this document. We shall

therefore review the reality that preceded the amendment, and, in many ways, helped effect it.

Many studies have been conducted over the last few years of the existing situation in the area of

1 Prof. Israel (Issi) Doron is a

Professor and Head of the Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa, and chair-

man of The Law in the Service of the Elderly Association.