An investigation into why the health care system does not work for old people, who are in fragile health, and what we can do about it.
Medical treatment of elderly people is not working. Worse, it is often harmful, says author John Sloan, a family physician who has worked primarily with the elderly for more than twenty years. In A Bitter Pill, he examines why medical treatment -- from modern medicine's one-size-fits-all prevention strategy to hospital stays that don't benefit anyone -- is failing them and identifies solutions to the problem.
In clear, accessible language, Sloan argues that we must understand what people in poor health at the end of their lives really need: comfort, dignity, and quality of life. He also argues that caregivers, sons, daughters, nurses, doctors, and social workers -- all of us -- must assume responsibility for what happens to the elderly and give these loved ones the kind of care we hope, one day, someone will give us.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-246) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 362.198/9700971
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781926812045 9781553654551
- LCCN
- RC952
- LCCN Item number
- S558 2009eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (252 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00224924 (OCoLC)701109748 (CaOOCEL)434653
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- HOW THE 3
- MEDICAL SYSTEM 3
- IS FAILING 3
- THE ELDERLY 3
- Contents 5
- Foreword 9
- Preface 11
- Introduction 13
- The Fragile Elderly 21
- All the Wrong Stuff 21
- Pseudoscience 47
- Where One-Size-Fits-All Health Care 47
- Comes From 47
- Poisonous Prevention 68
- Just Keep Takin Them Pills 68
- Three Blind Dice 90
- Examples of Prevention as a Gamble 90
- The Cathedrals of Crisis 104
- Rescue and the Hospital 104
- Falling Between the Cracks 124
- Geriatric nimby ism 124
- You Should See the Other Guy 142
- The System in Trouble 142
- Lock Them Up and Throw Away the Key 166
- The Villains of the Piece 166
- Nobody Asked Us 189
- What Fragile Old People Want and Need 189
- Starting Back 214
- Healthier Health Care 214
- Epilogue 244
- Acknowledgments 246
- References 249
- Index 255
- About the Author 263
