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Being Mortal


An eye-opening and riveting look at how how medicine can not only improve life ...
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What realities are captured in the story of Lou Sanders? What conflicts did his daughter face between her intentions and the practical needs of the family and herself? What does the book illustrate about the universal nature of this struggle for families?

Created: 09/01/17

Replies: 2

Posted Sep. 01, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

What realities are captured in the story of Lou Sanders? What conflicts did his daughter face between her intentions and the practical needs of the family and herself? What does the book illustrate about the universal nature of this struggle for families?

What realities are captured in the story of Lou Sanders and his daughter, Shelley, regarding home care for an aging and increasingly frail parent? What conflicts did Shelley face between her intentions and the practical needs of the family and herself? What does the book illustrate about the universal nature of this struggle in families around the globe?


Posted Sep. 13, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
renem

Join Date: 12/01/16

Posts: 292

Response

The reality is that if the caregiver is stressed too much then they are no good to the receiver of their care. In a society where more families are single parents and/or dual income it becomes increasingly harder to quit jobs in order to care for an aging parent and too much stress to work full time and take care of an elder. Often times the caregiver themselves are older too and it becomes very hard to take care of themselves and their older parent. This is especially true if both are still living in homes that need to be maintained.


Posted Sep. 17, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ylhoff

Join Date: 10/23/12

Posts: 85

RE: What realities are captured in the story of Lou Sanders?

I agree with renem. Caregivers are not only struggling with role reversals, but with the sudden burden of making decisions that can break so many different pieces of their lives and the lives of their families. No one should have to manage everything in a vaccuum. She should not have had to deal with the doctors, her husband's demands, her father's wishes, holding a job, worrying about money in the confused, often blind way she was forced to. There should have been a clear and accessible way for her to get the information and help she needed without having to search all over and try so many different ways to get her father what he needed.

The conversation in this country is changing, but it needs to happen more quickly, more completely in order to help those who need it now. There need to be active conversations and training for those whose parents are still very healthy and independent so that it becomes normalized. There needs to be a complete change in how the medical community treats people and their illness or infirmity. Investors need to think about how they want to be treated or taken care of as they age and take steps to make that happen for themselves and others. Should they come to care, I think there will be many more options for the types of housing/care centers available, which would mean that the costs could come down and the quality of life would increase.


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