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Re: Books - Currently Reading - Being Mortal (Atul Gawande)

[(Anonymous)]

Finished! Somewhat morbid notes to follow...

Turns out it's not just about care for the elderly, as some chapters also discuss terminal illness. Though there's often overlap. The central idea is about promoting quality of life over having too narrow a focus on extending the length of a life, and also about accepting death as inevitable and planning with that in mind. So it's worth a read because it raises points that are worth giving practical consideration and making one's wishes known about. (eg: under what, if any, sorts of medical circumstances would you rather be dead than alive?) So the last chapters stress the importance of having conversations with others about the realities of certain medical treatments, so that people can get their priorities clear with themselves and plan, and so that their family can feel reassured that they made a decision in line with their priorities.

The book is super super American (there's an ever-present focus on the cost of healthcare and the assumptions that individuals would pay for it, and a simultaneous view that the USA is seen as a world-leader). Mentions of the free market and suchlike. Also the assumption that someone would go into a nursing home by default when elderly and infirm; I think that's a lot more popular in the USA and quite rare elsewhere (he does talk about the India/USA difference, but I think this may be one of those USA/nearly-everywhere-else things. Though tbf I didn't check the stats). There was also a line about a 13 year old being almost too young to be ready to hear about another person's impending death, which I thought was a bit odd.

There's a description of different doctor styles, 'the paternalistic dr' (tells you what to do), 'the informative dr' (throws info at you and expects you to evaluate and choose on your own), 'the interpretative dr' (asks about your goals and tries to find treatment that best fits). In the wake of transactivism, I think we need a 4th, 'the complete charlatan dr'.

The author is from a Hindu family, and thus mentions that when a relative died, he took part in a popular ritual to scatter their ashes on the Ganges and drink some of the river water. I felt like I had a heart of stone since my first thought was 'but hygiene!!!', so I was encouraged/vindicated to turn the page and see the author had had exactly the same thought process (and apparently sometimes the remains of bodies scattered in the river are not properly cremated), had got loads of shots beforehand-- and had still ended up with a tapeworm. He didn't regret doing it, but was reassuring to be right when I felt like a bit of a jerk for my lack of romance, lol.

And yeah, no analysis of the role women, specifically, play in caring. Not surprising, but a bit of a shame. Though one of the book's strengths is that it's short and focused, and tbf that would have made it longer, plus I'd rather it be left out than a non-expert writer just take a wild stab, as men sometimes try when it comes to anything feminist. I do recommend the book, anyway.