Summary of Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

By . IRB Media

Being Mortal: by Atul Gawande | A 15-minute Key Takeaways & Analysis

Preview:

Being Mortal, written by Atul Gawande, brings to light an array of concepts involving death, mortality, aging, and terminal illness. Gawande includes extensive research and chronicles the stories of his patients, other doctors’ patients, and his own family members. The resulting book informs readers about many circumstances and scenarios that can help people find the best route through their or their family members’ final days, months, or years…

Key Takeaways

Nursing homes were not created to assist the elderly with their dependency on others or provide a better option than poorhouses. They were created to clear out hospital beds.

Assisted living arose from the need for an alternative to nursing homes that could give patients more independence and control over their lives.

At the end of their lives, most people want more than to merely survive, which is where medical institutions, nursing homes, and assisted living can fall flat.

People need to ask themselves what would make life worth living when they are ill, old, frail, or dependent on others for daily care.

PLEASE NOTE: This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.

Inside this Instaread of Being Mortal:

• Key Takeaways of the book

• Introduction to the important people in the book

• Analysis of the Key Takeaways

About the Author

With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781944195106

. IRB Media

With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Overview

Being Mortal, written by Atul Gawande, brings to light an array of concepts involving death, mortality, aging, and terminal illness. Gawande includes extensive research and chronicles the stories of his patients, other doctors’ patients, and his own family members. The resulting book informs readers about many circumstances and scenarios that can help people find the best route through their or their family members’ final days, months, or years.

Gawande runs through the history and practicality of common ways the sick and elderly live when taking care of themselves becomes unmanageable. These primarily include hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, and hospice. He examines the positives and negatives of each while discussing the spectrum of autonomy each option allows. Autonomy is an important concept both to Gawande’s narrative and anyone who faces sickness, aging, and death. Gawande explores other concepts and scenarios faced by the dying, such as whether to pursue treatment to the end, despite the fact that those treatments could sacrifice quality of life or shorten life.

Interspersed throughout the book are personal stories weaved in and out of Gawande’s research, conceptual explanations, and analysis. These stories illustrate many of the different points he makes. Included is a detailed account of the end of his father’s life and his father’s struggle to maintain a life he could enjoy while battling a paralyzing tumor. Gawande calls for doctors to examine their pursuits with