Being Mortal

hospital, paralyzed.The billsrose. His family stopped visiting. Eventuallythe hospitaldropped him offhere. Bhagatsaidhesentamess ...

not imagine. Yet still, most consider modern old age homesfrightening,desolate,evenodiousplacestospend thelastphaseofone’slife.W ...

doctortoldhimhewas“adamnfool”tobeworkingup there at his age. “Damnit!”Trumanshotback.“I’meightyyearsoldand ateighty,Ihavetherigh ...

and his homewith it. Inthe aftermath,he became an icon—theoldmanwhohadstayedinhishouse,takenhis chances,andlivedlifeonhisownterm ...

ForAlice,itmusthavefeltasifshehadcrossedintoan alienlandthatshewouldneverbeallowedtoleave.The borderguardswere friendlyandcheerf ...

toyouin yourownbed.Thefunctionofhospitalswas mainly custodial. As the great physician-writer Lewis Thomas observed, describing h ...

ministry of family and religion. Medicine was just anotheratoolyoucouldtry,nodifferentfromahealing ritualorafamilyremedyandnomor ...

As hospitals sprang up, they became a comparatively moreattractiveplacetoputtheinfirm.Thatwasfinally whatbroughtthepoorhousestoe ...

infacilitiesthatmetbasichealthandsafetystandards.A significantnumberofhospitals,especiallyintheSouth, couldn’t meet those standa ...

her by phone, sent Jim to investigate. He discovered Alice laid out beside the living room couch, nearly unconscious.Atthehospit ...

theytoldher.Shelivedwithwhomevertheysaidshehad to.Therewasasuccessionofroommates,neverchosen withherinputandallwithcognitiveimpa ...

Inanursinghome,theofficialaimoftheinstitutionis caring,buttheideaofcaringthathadevolveddidn’tbear any meaningful resemblance to ...

therigidscheduleofinstitutionallife.Shecouldn’thave herownfurnitureoracocktailbeforedinner,becauseit wasn’t safe. Therewassomuch ...

Talkto thestaffmembersand youwillhearaboutthe dailyskirmishes.Awomancallsforhelptothebathroom “everyfiveminutes.”Sotheyputherona ...

burdens off families’ hands to coping with poverty amongtheelderly—butneverthegoalthatmatterstothe peoplewhoresideinthem:howtoma ...

briefly to a nurse, then decided to say nothingmore. Later,shevomitedblood.Shealertednoone.Shedidn’t pressthecallbuttonor sayany ...

4 •Assistance You’dthinkpeoplewould haverebelled.You’dthink wewouldhaveburnedthenursinghomestotheground. Wehaven’t,though, becau ...

give his children college educations. He and Ruth encounteredtheirshareoflife’stroubles.Theirson,for instance,hadseriousproblems ...

hisgroceriesfortheday atthesupermarket, andcome hometomakehislunch.Laterintheafternoon,hewould go to thetown library. It was pre ...

toldalongstoryhesometimeslostthethreadofwhathe was saying. Other times, he seemed confused about somethingthey’djustspokenabout. ...