Abstract
The vast majority of older persons will need to be cared for by another person in their final years of life. A recent UK study demonstrated that 55% of persons over age 85 in their last year of life were moderately to severely cognitively impaired, 63% needed help bathing, 43% needed help dressing, 67% could walk no further than their home gate, and 50% needed help with their medications.1 Despite popular media hype offering the promise of longevity free of disability as a reward for healthy living, the vast majority of our elderly patients, parents, grandparents, and even those of us who live to old age will need a caregiver for a short period or even years at the end of life. How do we want our frail elderly patients and family members to be treated? The quality of their lives depends upon the quality of their caregiving. If we want our elders to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, we need to make sure those who care for them are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.
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