Slow Medicine
Posted by Patti on May 6th, 2008 / 
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The New York Times has an article up about whether aggressive medical care is appropriate for elderly people.
HANOVER, N.H. — Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-paced game of tennis. But when it comes to health care, she is a champion of “slow medicine,” an approach that encourages less aggressive — and less costly — care at the end of life.
Grounded in research at the Dartmouth Medical School, slow medicine encourages physicians to put on the brakes when considering care that may have high risks and limited rewards for the elderly, and it educates patients and families how to push back against emergency room trips and hospitalizations designed for those with treatable illnesses, not the inevitable erosion of advanced age.
Slow medicine, which shares with hospice care the goal of comfort rather than cure, is increasingly available in nursing homes, but for those living at home or in assisted living, a medical scare usually prompts a call to 911, with little opportunity to choose otherwise.
The only issue I have with this is how they have to mention the **costs** factor. All human life is priceless, and to mention costs as a factor in making life and death decisions causes me concern. When we starting going down that road, many lives will be considered not **worth it**.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I agree with you that life is priceless but the question is when is it over and do you have the right to choose the time and place
May 16th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Let’s face it: Most nursing homes call 911 when they fear a death is imminent. A death that might cause a few second looks.
Broken hips and bones, bad coughs and high fevers are typical reasons for those calls. We don’t have the equipment to DX things; maybe a call to 911 isn’t necessary? But an appt at the docs office is? I don’t know. I do know that going ALL out for an old frail person seems cruel. Death is natural and no one ever said its peaceful. We can control most of the nasty stuff that comes with it. But should we fight nature?