What are we going to do with dad?
My father-in-law is now resting at home and being taken care by my sister- and brother-in-law. 65% of his brain is damaged by two strokes. Although he can move around his house with ease, his reasoning skills are almost no longer in existence.
I came across this article "what are we going to do with dad?" by Dr. Jerald Winakur http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/4/1064 on the internet yesterday and it echoes my concerns for my FIL.
PREFACE: America is getting older, and older Americans are living longer. What has not changed is the dysfunction and illness that usually accompany aging. Geriatrician Jerald Winakur looks at the "vast inland sea of elders" that is building and wonders where the doctors will come from to care for them. Writing as the son of an eighty-six-year-old man with dementia, Winakur also details the nitty-gritty of caring for an increasingly debilitated parent. In both of his roles—loving son and highly skilled professional—he is hard pressed to alter a course that punishes his dad and tears at his family. Even as medical science extends life, the future seen through his eyes is fraught with clinical and moral quandaries.
I came across this article "what are we going to do with dad?" by Dr. Jerald Winakur http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/4/1064 on the internet yesterday and it echoes my concerns for my FIL.
PREFACE: America is getting older, and older Americans are living longer. What has not changed is the dysfunction and illness that usually accompany aging. Geriatrician Jerald Winakur looks at the "vast inland sea of elders" that is building and wonders where the doctors will come from to care for them. Writing as the son of an eighty-six-year-old man with dementia, Winakur also details the nitty-gritty of caring for an increasingly debilitated parent. In both of his roles—loving son and highly skilled professional—he is hard pressed to alter a course that punishes his dad and tears at his family. Even as medical science extends life, the future seen through his eyes is fraught with clinical and moral quandaries.
posted by Jiru at
7:25 AM
