Even end of life legislation doesn't cover people in aged care who feel "enough is enough". The elderly woman, suffering from dementia, had made a decision. She would no longer eat. As her daughter-in-law put it: "In a private room, with only the television for company, she clearly decided – somewhere in the recesses of her addled brain – that enough was enough. She simply stopped...
Falls are one of the biggest health hazards for elderly people living at home or in aged care. It sounds counter-indicative but, for many of New Zealand's elderly people, the most dangerous room they inhabit is the bedroom. That's because the bedroom is the last frontier for guarding against one of the most perilous events faced by elderly folk: a fall. Laurel Winwood is facility manager at...
