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What Is The Theme Of Being Mortal By Atul Gawande

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“Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande is a book that anyone with parents or grandparents in the elderly stages of life can relate too. Many of the stories are relatable and during my time of reading the book I would take specific stories he tells and show them to my mom and ask her who in our family does this sound like and does this not sound like what we are going through with grandma. She immediately agreed and wanted to read on for the smallest idea to help or solution that could solve the problems and issues we are facing. Dr. Gawande is accounting the care and treatment of the elderly and the dying and how it has evolved and progressed over the last century to what it is today and could become within the future. Dr. Gawande was a general surgeon who took interest in the care and treatment of the elderly. Within the book he relates his own experiences with his elderly patients and their …show more content…

Gawande reports on improving facilities like those that follow the assisted living model, so being somewhere between independent living and the nursing home. Gawande also gives voice to the “Green Houses” developed by Dr. Bill Thomas, who believed that by placing real life in the form of plants, pets and children into nursing homes that the elderly could benefit from the activity around them. Palliative care or hospice care, which focuses on what a terminally ill patient wants the rest of their life to be like is coming into focus for many new health professionals. The hospice caregiver focuses on removing as much pain and suffering from the patient as possible. Finding out what the person would like to do with the rest of their life and trying to help them achieve those goals and aspirations. He states there is hope for the aging population, a group that includes everyone living. Doctors are starting to recognize that not everyone can be cured and that some people just need comfort, kindness, attention, care and the chance to have a purpose during the rest of their

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