Overview
Some 400,000 hip fractures occur every year, the vast majority among the elderly; all too often these fractures are associated with death or severe disability. After her mother's double hip fracture, Luisa Margolies immersed herself in identifying and coordinating the services and professionals needed to provide critical care for an elderly person. She soon realized that the American medical system is ill prepared to deal with the long-term care needs of our graying society. The heart of My Mother's Hip is taken up with the author's day-to-day observations as her mother's condition worsened, then improved only to worsen again, while her father became increasingly anxious and disoriented. As both a devoted daughter and a skilled anthropologist, Margolies vividly renders her interactions with physicians, nurses, hospital workers, nursing home administrators, the Medicare bureaucracy, home care providers, and her parents. In the Lessons chapter that follows each episode, she discusses in a broader context the weighty decisions that adult children must make on their parents' behalf and the emotional toll their responsibility takes. Here she addresses the complex practical issues that commonly arise in such situations: understanding the consequences of hip fracture and its treatment, preparing health care proxies and advanced directives, enabling elders to remain at home, and the heartbreaking dilemma of prolonging life. Like many adult children, Margolies learned her lessons about eldercare in the midst of crises. This book is intended to ease the information-gathering and decision-making processes for others involved in eldercare.
Full Product Details
Author: Luisa Margolies ,
Walter M. Bortz, M.D., II
Publisher: Temple University Press,U.S.
Imprint: Temple University Press,U.S.
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.481kg
ISBN: 9781592132386
ISBN 10: 1592132383
Pages: 376
Publication Date: 25 February 2004
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
I would love to use [this] book with a class of gerontology and public policy students to launch a discussion of what a better care system would entail and how we might harness caregiver anger to achieve it. I'd also like to see narratives like this in lots of adult discussion groups in churches and synagogues, so family caregivers to those with serious and eventually fatal chronic illness start their work better prepared. Medical Humanities Review [T]his very readable book offers a unique view of the effect that illness has on the entire fabric of a patient's life. It will be of interest to both physicians and non-physicians involved in elder care, as well as to the elders themselves. The New England Journal of Medicine the book reads like a novel, [and] is very skilfully written. The Senior Times In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies has written two powerful books in one. The chapters of her caregiving experience read like a novel, one that more and more Americans are living every day. Her alternating chapters, called 'Lessons,' build a compelling argument for fixing--and humanizing--the fragmented system of long-term care in the United States. Every older American, family caregiver, and provider of health and social services should read this remarkable book. --Gloria Cavanaugh, President and CEO, American Society on Aging In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies seamlessly integrates medical information with an intensely personal story that includes the frustration and fear that result from caring--and not always knowing how to care--for people you love. She explores end-of-life issues with the certainty of one who's been there. She knows how elusive the right answers can be and in their absence, how necessary are the qualities of patience, love, and understanding. --Nick Taylor, author of A Necessary End My Mother's Hip should be mandatory reading for all those who treat hip fracture patients as well as for the families of the patients. Luisa Margolies has captured the true impact of a hip fracture--on the patient, their family, and on our society. --Joseph D. Zuckerman, M.D., Professor and Chairman, NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery My Mother's Hip is a splendid and troubling book. Two of the great problems that come from medical progress are the use of technologies that can be less than perfect and the care of the chronically ill elderly by their children. This book is a wonderful exploration of what it means to be a dutiful daughter and a troubled surrogate decision-maker. Luisa Margolies' skills as an anthropologist bring those dilemmas to life in a compelling and readable fashion. --Daniel Callahan, Director, International Program, The Hastings Center
In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies has written two powerful books in one. The chapters of her caregiving experience read like a novel, one that more and more Americans are living every day. Her alternating chapters, called 'Lessons,' build a compelling argument for fixing-and humanizing-the fragmented system of long-term care in the United States. Every older American, family caregiver, and provider of health and social services should read this remarkable book. -Gloria Cavanaugh, President and CEO, American Society on Aging In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies seamlessly integrates medical information with an intensely personal story that includes the frustration and fear that result from caring-and not always knowing how to care-for people you love. She explores end-of-life issues with the certainty of one who's been there. She knows how elusive the right answers can be and in their absence, how necessary are the qualities of patience, love, and understanding. -Nick Taylor, author of A Necessary End My Mother's Hip should be mandatory reading for all those who treat hip fracture patients as well as for the families of the patients. Luisa Margolies has captured the true impact of a hip fracture-on the patient, their family, and on our society. -Joseph D. Zuckerman, M.D., Professor and Chairman, NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery My Mother's Hip is a splendid and troubling book. Two of the great problems that come from medical progress are the use of technologies that can be less than perfect and the care of the chronically ill elderly by their children. This book is a wonderful exploration of what it means to be a dutiful daughter and a troubled surrogate decision-maker. Luisa Margolies' skills as an anthropologist bring those dilemmas to life in a compelling and readable fashion. -Daniel Callahan, Director, International Program, The Hastings Center [T]he book reads like a novel, [and] is very skillfully written. -The Senior Times [T]his very readable book offers a unique view of the effect that illness has on the entire fabric of a patient's life. It will be of interest to both physicians and nonphysicians involved in elder care, as well as to the elders themselves. -The New England Journal of Medicine I would love to use [this] book with a class of gerontology and public policy students to launch a discussion of what a better care system would entail and how we might harness caregiver anger to achieve it. I'd also like to see narratives like this in lots of adult discussion groups in churches and synagogues, so family caregivers to those with serious and eventually fatal chronic illness start their work better prepared. -Medical Humanities Review
""I would love to use [this] book with a class of gerontology and public policy students to launch a discussion of what a better care system would entail and how we might harness caregiver anger to achieve it. I'd also like to see narratives like this in lots of adult discussion groups in churches and synagogues, so family caregivers to those with serious and eventually fatal chronic illness start their work better prepared."" Medical Humanities Review ""[T]his very readable book offers a unique view of the effect that illness has on the entire fabric of a patient's life. It will be of interest to both physicians and non-physicians involved in elder care, as well as to the elders themselves."" The New England Journal of Medicine ""the book reads like a novel, [and] is very skilfully written."" The Senior Times ""In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies has written two powerful books in one. The chapters of her caregiving experience read like a novel, one that more and more Americans are living every day. Her alternating chapters, called 'Lessons,' build a compelling argument for fixing--and humanizing--the fragmented system of long-term care in the United States. Every older American, family caregiver, and provider of health and social services should read this remarkable book."" --Gloria Cavanaugh, President and CEO, American Society on Aging ""In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies seamlessly integrates medical information with an intensely personal story that includes the frustration and fear that result from caring--and not always knowing how to care--for people you love. She explores end-of-life issues with the certainty of one who's been there. She knows how elusive the right answers can be and in their absence, how necessary are the qualities of patience, love, and understanding."" --Nick Taylor, author of A Necessary End ""My Mother's Hip should be mandatory reading for all those who treat hip fracture patients as well as for the families of the patients. Luisa Margolies has captured the true impact of a hip fracture--on the patient, their family, and on our society."" --Joseph D. Zuckerman, M.D., Professor and Chairman, NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery ""My Mother's Hip is a splendid and troubling book. Two of the great problems that come from medical progress are the use of technologies that can be less than perfect and the care of the chronically ill elderly by their children. This book is a wonderful exploration of what it means to be a dutiful daughter and a troubled surrogate decision-maker. Luisa Margolies' skills as an anthropologist bring those dilemmas to life in a compelling and readable fashion."" --Daniel Callahan, Director, International Program, The Hastings Center
Author Information
Luisa Margolies is Clinical Research Director of the Hip Fracture Research Project of South Florida; she serves as a consultant on aging-in-place as well as housing, assistive technology, and universal design for the elderly. She also is Director of Ediciones Venezolanas de Antropologia in Caracas, Venezuela.
