Necessary steps: how health care fails older patients, and how it can be done better.
A chance meeting between an octogenarian and a geriatrician shows how the US health system focuses on medical care at the expense of older adults' well-being.
Louise Aronson (Louise.Aronson@ucsf.edu) is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she holds an Arnold P. Gold Foundation Professorship and directs the Northern California Geriatrics Education Center and UCSF Medical Humanities. She is also the author of a short story collection, A History of the Present Illness. The woman's name in this essay was changed to protect her privacy.
Louise
L
Aronson
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D033262:Narration; D028701:Patient Rights; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Chronic Care; Elderly; Health Professions Education; Medicare; Physician Payment