I attended a thought provoking challenging visit to the Netherlands learning about their concepts of elder care, dementia, end of life care and assisted suicide.
The Dutch, I was informed, feel their elderly should stay home as long as possible and cared for by their families, friends and neighbors and some public nurses, health care givers. The support is simply expected and apparently provided. Anyone who has had to have a elderly relative or friend hospitalized, especially someone with dementia knows that the individual never fully recovers his memory to the same point as before going into the hospital. And if the individual has had surgery, their memory loss seems so much greater after the surgery which is why we worry so much about falls and broken bones.
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