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A Good Life to the End
A professor of intensive care asks why so many elderly people linger in pain and confusion in ICU when all they want is to die at home in peace and with their loved ones. A crucial and timely rallying cry against unnecessary suffering and for humanity and gentle acceptance at the end of our lives.
A huge majority of people at the end of their lives want to die at home, but only a small number manage to do this. This vital book asks why.
Many of us have experienced an elderly loved one coming to the end of their life in a hospital - over-treated, infantilised and, worst of all, facing a death without dignity. Families are being herded into making decisions that are not to the benefit of the patient.
Professor Ken Hillman has worked in intensive care since its inception. But he is appalled by the way the ICU has become a place where the frail, soon-to-die and dying are given unnecessary operations and life-prolonging treatments without their wishes being taken into account.
A Good Life to the End will embolden and equip us to ask about the options that doctors in hospital should offer us but mostly don’t. It lets us know that there are other, gentler options for patients and their loved ones that can be much more sympathetic to the final wishes of most people facing the end of their lives.
An invaluable support for the elderly as well as their families, and a rallying cry for anyone who’s had to witness the unnecessary suffering of a loved one, A Good Life to the End will spark debate, challenge the status quo and change lives.
A huge majority of people at the end of their lives want to die at home, but only a small number manage to do this. This vital book asks why.
Many of us have experienced an elderly loved one coming to the end of their life in a hospital - over-treated, infantilised and, worst of all, facing a death without dignity. Families are being herded into making decisions that are not to the benefit of the patient.
Professor Ken Hillman has worked in intensive care since its inception. But he is appalled by the way the ICU has become a place where the frail, soon-to-die and dying are given unnecessary operations and life-prolonging treatments without their wishes being taken into account.
A Good Life to the End will embolden and equip us to ask about the options that doctors in hospital should offer us but mostly don’t. It lets us know that there are other, gentler options for patients and their loved ones that can be much more sympathetic to the final wishes of most people facing the end of their lives.
An invaluable support for the elderly as well as their families, and a rallying cry for anyone who’s had to witness the unnecessary suffering of a loved one, A Good Life to the End will spark debate, challenge the status quo and change lives.
- GenresNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2017
13 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 24, 2017
Outlines the very real problems that people are experiencing with end of life care and the way hospitals compartmentalise health problems, instead of accepting that all the health problems often come back to the same cause - getting old, or frailty.
Highly recommended for all who are dealing with aging parents, or those who are dealing with parents who are aging and have a terminal disease. It makes you think about the hard conversations we need to have, so we know what our parents want, and what we want, because it will happen to all of us.....
Surprisingly not a depressing read though!
Highly recommended for all who are dealing with aging parents, or those who are dealing with parents who are aging and have a terminal disease. It makes you think about the hard conversations we need to have, so we know what our parents want, and what we want, because it will happen to all of us.....
Surprisingly not a depressing read though!
March 25, 2018
Ken Hillman a Intensive Care Specialist Dr working at a large Australian hospital. In this book, he talks about aging and how modern medicine fails many of our elderly family members. As we age and become more frail, Drs may still insist on continuing treatments and offering surgery that may not help patients. Many elderly do not want a hospitalized end to their lives, but rather would have help to live well at home as long as they are able, rather than undergoing unnecessary and painful tests and procedures.
I am not sure that the book has all the answers, but is maybe a good read for raising discussion with family and doctors about what options we should consider as we age.
I am not sure that the book has all the answers, but is maybe a good read for raising discussion with family and doctors about what options we should consider as we age.
June 3, 2018
An interesting and informative book. A must read for everyone over 65 and their families. Accepting death when your time has come and dying with dignity amongst friends, is far preferable to dying in hospital hooked up to machines, in a vain attempt to prong life, when you are old and your body is too worn out to continue. Hillman explains how modern medicine has brought us to where we are with the old and frail and how it fails them, when there time has come to die graciously.
November 23, 2020
"In evolutionary terms, we were born with the simple aim of surviving childhood, reaching adolescence and very early adulthood, passing on our genes and then dying". We were not meant to grow old. Accepting this argument leaves no room for not embracing aging.
This book starts by biologically explaining the process of getting old and then it takes us through the main message: elderly people should be consulted about how they like to spend their last few weeks or days of their life: with dignity at home while surrounded by family and friends or in intensive care units with medical equipment attached to them. Frail people may not be able to decide for themselves which one to choose and that is why Hillman allocated one whole chapter to talk about preparing a living will for the last days.
Reading this book not only prepares oneself for a better ending but also helps understand the type of care the elderly in one's family and friends may need.
This book starts by biologically explaining the process of getting old and then it takes us through the main message: elderly people should be consulted about how they like to spend their last few weeks or days of their life: with dignity at home while surrounded by family and friends or in intensive care units with medical equipment attached to them. Frail people may not be able to decide for themselves which one to choose and that is why Hillman allocated one whole chapter to talk about preparing a living will for the last days.
Reading this book not only prepares oneself for a better ending but also helps understand the type of care the elderly in one's family and friends may need.
Read
September 1, 2017Excellent. I liked the clarity of Hillman's writing, which matches the topics theme of frankness about death and dying.
February 23, 2018
I must admit, when I first started reading this book I thought it'd be an Australian's version of Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (which just made me want to re-read Being Mortal, because that book is amazing). But Hillman went on to provide a perspective on aging and dying well that I had not expected...but that I really appreciated*. His stories and descriptions used to illustrate the unfortunate state of medical care for older and dying adults are simultaneously blunt and refreshingly relatable, and I think the way he outlines these concepts make this book approachable - and important! - for health care workers and community members alike.
*Hillman acknowledges Gawande in the second half of the book, which I appreciated.
I wrote down many of Hillman's points to use as references for my own nursing practice - for example, the fact that writing 'old age' as the cause of death on a death certificate is discouraged, and medical diagnoses that are put in its place not only become targets for inappropriate therapy interventions as well as for hospital priorities and funding opportunities. Imagine how much this 'cause of death' restriction hinders how we think about old age! If death from natural old age requires a diagnosis, and diagnoses were designed to precede a therapeutic cure, we cannot claim that we have any grasp on how to deal with the natural process of aging.
I feel quite passionately about the concepts of both living and dying well, and I think this is an important read for everyone so that we can begin to treat both life and death with the respect and dignity they deserve.
*Hillman acknowledges Gawande in the second half of the book, which I appreciated.
I wrote down many of Hillman's points to use as references for my own nursing practice - for example, the fact that writing 'old age' as the cause of death on a death certificate is discouraged, and medical diagnoses that are put in its place not only become targets for inappropriate therapy interventions as well as for hospital priorities and funding opportunities. Imagine how much this 'cause of death' restriction hinders how we think about old age! If death from natural old age requires a diagnosis, and diagnoses were designed to precede a therapeutic cure, we cannot claim that we have any grasp on how to deal with the natural process of aging.
I feel quite passionately about the concepts of both living and dying well, and I think this is an important read for everyone so that we can begin to treat both life and death with the respect and dignity they deserve.
January 23, 2020
An Intensive Care Specialist who very clearly defines the problems of our current health care system and the poor quality of care that is happening more and more as the elderly population are treated with the medical miracles and technologies used to cure the single malady, youthful population.
The essential solution to optimum care of the aging and dying, after recognizing that these are incurable conditions which will inflict us all, is first talking openly about these facts of life (and death). Then the priority would be listening to and trying to implement what each person believes would be a good end to hopefully a good life.
This book serves as an excellent reminder and reinforcement of why we need to stop ‘medicalizing’ aging, end of life, and dying in order to truly provide care with compassion.
The essential solution to optimum care of the aging and dying, after recognizing that these are incurable conditions which will inflict us all, is first talking openly about these facts of life (and death). Then the priority would be listening to and trying to implement what each person believes would be a good end to hopefully a good life.
This book serves as an excellent reminder and reinforcement of why we need to stop ‘medicalizing’ aging, end of life, and dying in order to truly provide care with compassion.
May 23, 2020
Problems with hospitalisation of the frail elderly
Ken Hillman, an intensive care specialist, gives a sobering assessment of how the medical system treats the elderly fail. Increasingly intensive care beds in hospitals are taken by elderly patients in the last years of their lives. Hillman provides graphic examples of patients who gained little from intensive treatments because they were frail, had multiple conditions and were reaching the end of life. He makes a strong case for improving the hospital treatment of the frail elderly. Strongly recommended.
Ken Hillman, an intensive care specialist, gives a sobering assessment of how the medical system treats the elderly fail. Increasingly intensive care beds in hospitals are taken by elderly patients in the last years of their lives. Hillman provides graphic examples of patients who gained little from intensive treatments because they were frail, had multiple conditions and were reaching the end of life. He makes a strong case for improving the hospital treatment of the frail elderly. Strongly recommended.
October 19, 2023
Myslím, že táto kniha mi dala nový pohľad na vec! Autorom je anestéziológ, ktorý popisuje problém modernej medicíny - otvorene priznať a niekedy aj rozoznať pomaly blížiacu sa smrť. V knihe sú doložené príbehy starých ľudí, ktorých posledné dni nemuseli byť strávené na JIP(JIS), ale v pokoji domova.
(Na to, že celá kniha bola o smrti nebola vôbec depresívna)
(Na to, že celá kniha bola o smrti nebola vôbec depresívna)
August 4, 2018
Excellent food for thought. Asks whether all medical intervention is in the best interest of our elderly people and prompts the reader to reflect on quality of life, particularly when one is nearing the natural conclusion of their life.
August 4, 2025
Dobrá učebnica pre všetkých lekárov, tiež by sa to mohlo rozdávať všetkým seniorom a osobám, ktoré sa o nich starajú. Veľa vecí je tam povedané priamo, jasne a bez zbytočných omáčok. Ako základ je to fajn, ale ja som čakala viac. (Mám načítanú tému dosť do hĺbky)
April 21, 2018
An informative and honest guide to managing aging and dying.
March 1, 2021
The book gets a bit repetitive but it has an important message about how our health system is failing to deal with inevitable deaths from old age in a way that is caring and clear sighted.
Read
January 5, 2025v. good but also terrifying
April 6, 2025
Death and dying when to say enough to treatment and implement palliative care
December 16, 2020
A Good Life to the End has to be one of the most depressing books I’ve read this year, but it’s an important one that faces up to some unpleasant facts.
Although I think it deserves a wider audience, I think the book will have most resonance for those of us confronting the end of life for aged parents, who are having to make decisions for loved ones no longer able to make those decisions for themselves, and who are realising that the same issues apply to us as we ourselves get older.
Professor Ken Hillman is Professor of Intensive Care at the University of New South Wales (SWS Clinical School), and an actively practising clinician in Intensive Care, at Liverpool Hospital. He’s also the presenter of the TED talk ‘We’re doing dying all wrong’, though I didn’t see that till I Googled his profile for this review.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/08/26/a...
Although I think it deserves a wider audience, I think the book will have most resonance for those of us confronting the end of life for aged parents, who are having to make decisions for loved ones no longer able to make those decisions for themselves, and who are realising that the same issues apply to us as we ourselves get older.
Professor Ken Hillman is Professor of Intensive Care at the University of New South Wales (SWS Clinical School), and an actively practising clinician in Intensive Care, at Liverpool Hospital. He’s also the presenter of the TED talk ‘We’re doing dying all wrong’, though I didn’t see that till I Googled his profile for this review.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/08/26/a...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews