I thought this article published in Health Affairs was incredibly poignant. The stories, or cases, the author, Martin Bayne, presents are heartbreaking. The one that affected me most was the librarian who told him she didn't want to die alone; would he stay with her that night?
In a culture that worships youth, we've forgotten the wisdom our elders have to pass on to us and we've made disrespectful choices in managing our journey of aging.
Bayne writes,
"To create guine long-term care reform, we as a nation need to perform a series of activities. We must understand the full nature and scope of the problem, including knowing the benefits that are and aren't available under skilled, custodial, and intermediate long-term care. We have to acknowledge the full range of policy options that exist and create a workable way to finance care using a mix of public- and private-sector support. People will also have to acknowledge their personal responsibility for leading purposeful lives, a part of which means considering the costs of long-term care and planning ahead for how to pay for them. In short, we must all be held accountable for ourselves and for the whole."Everything is at stake. If you want to read more, check out his literary journal: http://thefeatheredflounder.com/
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