I think we can all agree that hospitals are the wrong place to warehouse the elderly facing end of life issues. 

What we need is a fundamental change in how we view aging and death. I think too many doctors look at the natural process of aging and death as diseases that we should try to "cure" at all costs, no matter what that really means for the remaining quality of life of the patient. I've had some unpleasant experiences where Doctors have attempted to do exhaustive test upon test on 90-year old family members who were simply dying for lack of a better word, and would have been better served by a system that focused on their quality of life rather than trying to stretch our their dementia-addled, chronically painful existence for another month, or week, or day when they didn't even know their own children anymore and were seeking death (suicide attempts). It's okay to grow old and die, its natural, its necessary, and we need to accept this and the system needs to reflect this.

Labels: moderation: safe