Book Talk- Elderhood by Dr. Louise Aronson Part One
By: Christine Schrade-Keddy
Tags: Caregiving, Elder Care, Seniors, Church, Ministry

Book Talk- Elderhood by Dr. Louise Aronson Part One

This morning, I am spending time in the world of Dr. Louise Aronson. It is a difficult world to spend time in, because it is very sad. On the other hand, it is hopeful, because people like Dr. Aronson are calling out the terrible discrepancies that exist in our healthcare system for older folks. That is good news, but there is so much work to be done.

In the first few chapters, Dr. Aronson tells some frankly terrifying stories of patients that drew her in to specializing in geriatric medicine. In all of these stories, there is one common denominator- PEOPLE WERE NOT LISTENING. Thankfully, by the time these patients got to Dr. Aronson, they were saved. This was because Dr. Aronson dug deep, looking for clues, asking the family members probing questions and refused to just move them on down the chain.

In one of the cases described, the patient had Parkinsons and was non-verbal. In another one of the cases, the patient had had a massive stroke but it presented itself as dementia. So Dr. Aronson had to look beyond the facts that were presenting themselves.

The daughter of the stroke patient had actually called 911. The paramedics came to the house and determined that nothing was wrong (other than dementia) and left. Thankfully, the daughter did not give up, and persisted by calling the clinic where Dr. Aronson was on call. After questioning the daughter extensively- Dr. Aronson called the ER personally and met the daughter there. Dementia does not just “pop up” out of nowhere. It is progressive. The patient had not had any signs of dementia two days prior- yet the paramedics just assumed she was confused because of “old age”.

In the case of the Parkinsons patient, after much digging, Dr. Aronson determined that the patient had declined so quickly due to a “drug cascade” . This is when seemingly harmless medications combine to cause a perfect storm of additional and life-threatening symptoms. Dr. Aronson took the patient off eight of their medications and tapered them down on the other two. Within a week the non-verbal, non-mobile patient was walking and talking. Within a few months they were elected to the residence counsel in the assisted living facility and began painting as a hobby.

As I sit here and ponder, I think about these two patients and how they had one additional common denominator other than gracefully falling into the care of Dr. Aronson. They both had families advocating for them. They both had caregivers who insisted that something was the matter even when the medical professionals told them to move along.

I wonder and pray about those older folks who do not have someone advocating for them. As I learned in my own caregiving ordeal, it is virtually impossible for older patients to navigate the healthcare system successfully without an advocate. Yet so many of them do not have anyone to advocate for them.

How does this translate to ministry? Often the older folks in our congregations become our family. Many times, the pastor and the church members are the ones who have the most contact with them. Often, close family members do not live near the elderly person. Pastors and church members become de facto caregivers. I see this happening all the time. And I wonder what I can do to support caregivers who have found themselves in this situation.