Futile care is the continuation of health care and treatment for a patient despite the lack of reasonable benefit or hope of cure. It may take the form of surgery for advanced cancer despite the fact that it does not help or cure the disease or continuing to put a brain-stem-dead patient on a ventilator. Futile care is a sensitive issue that must be approached with caution and professionalism. It is often debated between health care providers and each other and between the elderly's families and each other. This is due to the lack of clarity about all the facts of the care or the patient's current situation or the suffering of loss. Health care is one of the means of maintaining and restoring health to improve the quality of life of the elderly. The decision to accept or refuse health care is an important, vital and complex one. This decision is governed by many variables such as the ethics and regulations of the profession, traditions and beliefs, the availability of eligibility, the educational level of the elderly and their family, the availability of communication skills, and the time, information and health education experience of the health care provider.