Atul Gawande Being Mortal Analysis

In Being Mortal, Dr. Atul Gawande explains in the book’s opening chapter how our modern age’s demographic shifts have inspired a phenomenon he calls the “veneration of the independent self.” Dr. Gawande discusses how in the past surviving to old age was uncommon where in the late 18th-century, for example, those 65 and older made up less than two percent of the U.S. population compared to now comprising approximately 14 percent. Furthermore, he describes that parents living longer has led their children to venture out on their own with greater frequency and live more independent of their parents.
I agree with the idea he describes that we all seek to live an independent life, but that when serious illness or infirmities strike as they inevitably do, that we are often ill-prepared to deal with the two big unfixables, namely aging and dying. This made me think of my own family, where my grandparents are declining and my mother grapples with any new remedy or supplement that will help my grandparents live longer by combating problems that exist due to age. Moreover, today’s medical industrial complex is not well equipped to
Gawande explains that many assisted living facilities will promise a better way. He asserts that as we age, we tend to “narrow in” and prefer to spend time with people we know and love rather than expanding our social networks. There are two reasons he provides as to why assisted living facilities typically cannot fulfil the desire for connection. First, we must recognize that assisted living facilities are a service business and Dr. Gawande points out that there are no good metrics for evaluating how well they truly assist someone with living. Second, because the elderly usually make this decision because of their children’s insistence, the facilities cater more to the sense of protectiveness that children feel toward their parents. As one gerontologist mentioned to Dr. Gawande, “We want autonomy for ourselves and safety for those we