[Hac-announce] March 2016 Book Discussion: "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" by Atul Gawande

Kevin Gough or Paula Jones kvngough at aol.com
Mon Feb 29 18:36:23 EST 2016



Our book for March is Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Dr. Atul Gawande. The discussion will take place Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 2 pm in the library of the Unitarian Society of New Haven at 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden.
 
 
>From Amazon:

[I]n the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extends suffering.

 
Dr. Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.  

“Being Mortal, Atul Gawande's masterful exploration of aging, death, and the medical profession's mishandling of both, is his best and most personal book yet.” ―Boston Globe

The book made the New York Times Best Seller List.

 
As we are in winter, snow date for this discussion is Saturday, March 26. Watch for announcements if there is inclement weather on or near the discussion date. 

The book is readily available in numerous libraries around the state.
 
Refreshments will be served.

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