Jessie Degollado, KSAT 12 reporter, interviews Dr. Winakur about his article, What Are We Going To Do With Dad? No Pat Answer for the “Old Old,” that was recently included in The Washington Post.
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“In the United States today there are 35 million geriatric patients…Only 2 percent of physicians in training say they want to go into geriatric care,” writes Jerald Winakur, M.D., associate faculty member of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, in an article that appeared in Project HOPE’s (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) Health Affairs Journal last week. “By 2020 there will be an estimated 53 million Americans older than 65…Many of you will be among them…Our government appears to have no policy vision for long-term care.”

In his article, What Are We Going To Do With Dad? No Pat Answers For the “Old Old,” Dr. Winakur describes the disadvantages America’s aging population faces, while using his father’s deteriorating health as an example. He writes, “…Hospitalizations are the most dangerous times for the elderly…Instead, I took my father home. I knew that if I didn’t get him out of the hospital at that moment, he would never come home again.”

Dr. Winakur received national attention when The Washington Post ran an adaptation to the article last week. Since then, hundreds of newspapers have showcased the piece. Dr. Winakur also spoke about the article on National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show last Tuesday.

“My only sibling…asks me every time we are together and every time we speak on the phone, ‘What are we going to do with Dad?’” Dr. Winakur writes. The article’s four sections, The Role of the SNU (skilled nursing unit), The Road to Now, Hospital Dangers and, And Now We Wait, portray Dr. Winakur as both the physician and the concerned family member.

To view the complete article, visit: content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/4/1064.