In this Essay (short book) she describes how social attitudes towards the elderly shape the way rest-homes, hospitals, and health professionals organise and either limit or extend their care of the elderly. Hitchcock addresses a number of ethical issues – futility, over- and under-treatment, burden, euthanasia, advanced care directives – interspersing these with moving stories of real people and events. These stories are not just dramatic devices but beautifully rendered accounts of interactions she has experienced with her own family members and her patients.