Interesting article on end of life care entitled ” The Hospital Is No Place for the Elderly”

 Interesting article on end of life care entitled” The Hospital Is No Place for the Elderly” “Hospitals are hugely dangerous and inappropriately used,” says George Taler of Georgetown Univ. and the long-term care director at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “They are a great place to be if you have no choice but to risk your life to get better.” http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/12/the-home-remedy-for-old-age/354680/#comments

For many, the worst place of all is the intensive-care unit, that alien planet where, according to a recent study in the  Journal of the American Medical Association , 29 percent of Medicare beneficiaries wind up in their last month of life. “The focus appears to be on providing curative care in the acute hospital,” an accompanying editorial said, “regardless of the likelihood of benefit or preferences of patients.”

Taler can attest to one of the more peculiar elements of this situation, which is that a better model—namely, providing care and support at home—has been known and used for decades.