This is an issue that has been on my mind, perhaps because I was a caregiver for 30 years here in the Monastery, mostly with those in old, old age. I am just posting to get others people ideas on this issue. I am a Christian, so pro life, but I also feel that there needs to be a better way to dealing with people as they enter the latter years of life. Perhaps this is important because baby h-boomers are so numerous. In the whole health care issue, I have often wondered what they are going to do with all of us babyboomers. I was at the VA having a procedure done. I noticed how young the doctors looked, actually like they were still in High School. However, I felt comfortable with them and we had a very nice and frank conversation. I asked them how they were handling the new wave of babyboomers who need more medical care….me being one of them. For instance, I would have died two years ago if not for a Pacemaker that the VA put in me. One day I was fine, then the next I was having some serious difficulty walking and breathing at the same time. They were honest, they said that they were getting very nervous, because the system is already overtaxed and will only get worse as my generation gets older. We are in a fix I believe. Our medical care is geared to keeping people alive for as long as possible, without thinking much on what that life will be like for many of them. Then the expense of care will continue to go up, the nightmare of insurance and co-pay will be a constant source of worry for many, as well as quality of care. We have the knowledge and expertise, but perhaps lack in the compassion necessary to make extreme old age actually worthwhile. True, there are some who age in such a way that they need little care, but then, the many, as the years go by will need more care and perhaps spend their last years in a nursing home, many of which are of poor quality and are often run as a businesses only. The human element is lacking, many facilities are understaffed, and get low pay, with abuse being common as well. There are those lucky enough to have families that can take care of them, have the resources and of course or willing to do so. So I am not being black and white in what I am trying to say. I do believe that our elderly and ill should be treated with respect and both the physical, emotional and spiritual needs should be addressed. As long as our medical industry is based on a profit only mentality, then perhaps the problem will only get worse. I wonder what would happen, if our culture (in the United States) actually became geared to the fact that profit may not be the most important aspect of care. Even then, money is still an issue. People who work in the this line of work need to be paid, so expenses, even if they become much less, how to spend it, who gets the treatment would still have to be considered. I believe that people in a certain age group, younger age group, should never be denied treatment, older people however, if come sort of choice has to be made, then we who are in our senior years should perhaps be content with palliative care and learn to let go. Not very pleasant, but pills keep many of us alive, so our medical problems as our bodies age get worse. I would like others to give their take on this if they have the time.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 21:47:00 +0000
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