7/7/2023 0 Comments Being Mortal by Atul Gawande![]() ![]() We need homes, hospitals and carers that champion autonomy and meaning and options that don’t involve spending our last days on moon-shot treatments or in ICUs (intensive care units). We need policies that encourage geriatric training and awareness and hospice. ![]() Solution? New ways of thinking – as governments, as institutions and individuals. ![]() Despite the second being worthless without the first. The homes and hospitals that have stepped in are modelled on big medical institutions, prioritising treatment and safety and convenience over autonomy and meaning and wellness.Īs a result, we too often trade end-of-life quality for end-of-life quantity. The problem, until recently, is that our choices for getting help have been limited. ![]() This slow decline comes with gradually decreasing independence (we rely on more people to help us with more things). Medicine has become much better at treating disease.Īs a result, whether from old-age or sickness, more and more of us are dying gradually instead of losing our lives in one swoop. Gawande’s Being Mortal is taken up with well-written, engaging case studies while the breakdown of his arguments is quite simple: ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |