Our aging parents are not well matched for a healthcare system running on procedural autopilot. They need compassionate body guards who will help them make sense of their medical options based on their quality of life wishes and then help them enforce their choices.
Being a compassionate body guard for an aging parent is not an easy calling. It requires sustained collaboration, extraordinary patience, continual sensemaking, and deep courage.
This article from the Dartmouth Atlas Project reminds us of its necessity as well as the magnitude of what’s at stake.