ABSTRACT
The work in this book examines the intersection between culture, policy makers, and those who provide and receive care "on the ground." The clinical arena is a pivotal interface between health care policy and culture, with physicians having a great deal of power in clinical decision-making, and organized medicine exercising a great deal of political power in health care policy decisions. Because both health care policy and culture-specific ideas about death and aging inform clinical decision-making, physicians' perspectives are crucial in the examination of care and meaning in late life. In this chapter, we begin by presenting four reasons for studying approaches to life-sustaining treatments in Japan and the United States. Based on empirical research, we examine physicians' approaches to withholding life-sustaining treatments in Japan and the United States and draw conclusions about the implications of these for health care policy makers.
