This personal narrative explores the thoughts and emotions of a disability advocate as she becomes initiated into the charged arena of aging, care giving, and dying. She is assisting her increasingly disabled elder aunt through her end-of-life years. Both must grapple with many complex social and emotional issues: denial of disability, combativeness in reaction to dependence and loss of control, and the specters of assisted suicide and nursing home placement. They face the painful realization that even deep affection, family history, progressive politics, and extensive disability community resources do not necessarily ease the situation.
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References
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American Association of Retired Persons. ( 2003). Beyond fifty.03: A report to the nation on independent living and disability. Washington, DC: Author.
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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. ( 2002). Americans with Disabilities Act/Olmstead decision. Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://cms.hhs.gov/olmstead/default.asp
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Mattimore, T.J. (1997). Surrogate and physician understanding of patients' preferences for living permanently in a nursing home. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 45, 818—824.
