Because my mother gave birth to me at 39 years old, she and my father are now approaching 60 and I find this article resonating with me after reading it several times. Occasionally, she will jokingly bring up that she is ready for a nursing home and I should start preparing now. Although she is just kidding, there is certainly some sense behind that statement. As people age, it becomes very expensive to receive even the most basic health care and planning needs to be done long before one reaches retirement age. Since I have an interest in working as a social worker with the older adult population, I know the topic of using medications and technology to keep a person alive even if they are miserable, in pain, and hardly “living anymore” will
…show more content…
The aging population is growing significantly and researchers can expect these financial problems to worsen in the decades to come. Currently, Wolff’s mother and family members are forced to pay thousands of dollars to pay for her medical expenses and cover the gap that is not covered by insurance. However, in his writing, the author reflects on the idea that if she is only going to be held on by medication and will not be able to truly live her life, there may not be a reason to keep her alive any longer. She would not be able to survive on her own without the use of prescriptions and machinery, so she is hardly able to enjoy herself or have a positive attitude. It is clear that while they are technically keeping her alive and breathing, these treatments are causing her to be come angry and depressed, shown by her “mute reprimand…and desperate gutturnal pleas” (Wolff, M., 2012). At the end of the article, Wolff suggests that LTC insurance perhaps is not necessary for all people, such as himself, if one will just be left to be a “dwindler” and his or her quality of life will be very
The aging population is growing significantly and researchers can expect these financial problems to worsen in the decades to come. Currently, Wolff’s mother and family members are forced to pay thousands of dollars to pay for her medical expenses and cover the gap that is not covered by insurance. However, in his writing, the author reflects on the idea that if she is only going to be held on by medication and will not be able to truly live her life, there may not be a reason to keep her alive any longer. She would not be able to survive on her own without the use of prescriptions and machinery, so she is hardly able to enjoy herself or have a positive attitude. It is clear that while they are technically keeping her alive and breathing, these treatments are causing her to be come angry and depressed, shown by her “mute reprimand…and desperate gutturnal pleas” (Wolff, M., 2012). At the end of the article, Wolff suggests that LTC insurance perhaps is not necessary for all people, such as himself, if one will just be left to be a “dwindler” and his or her quality of life will be very