By Atul Gawande

Acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande takes on the topic of aging in this engaging, provocative, and often moving work. In the first part of the book, Gawande explores different models of senior living—from multigenerational households to newfangled nursing homes. In the latter part, which is shorter, he shifts somewhat abruptly to end-of-life medicine, promoting hospice as a model of care.

Our discussion should be robust. The Guardian argues, “As the starting point for a neglected debate, the book raises questions that it doesn’t answer. If autonomy is what matters, how do we respond when a person who is debilitated makes poor choices? Can a person with Alzheimer’s articulate what constitutes a good life? If may be, of course, that these questions are unanswerable in a general sense. Gawande’s clinical reports, thick with the particularities of people’s passions, the singularity of their existence, suggest that what matters is the individual.”

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Terrie found several web pages she thought would be interesting to us and helpful for our discussion:

The briefest of the three is Kelly Corrigan’s interview with Dr. Gawande on PBS’s “Tell Me More” (about 1/2 hour).

Also on PBS is the award-winning  hour-long documentary for “Frontline”  with Dr. Gawande about death and dying. You can find it here.

You may find it lies behind a paywall, but if you can get to it, the “By the Book” article in The New York Times about Dr. Gawande’s reading is fascinating.