From retired caregivers, a spoonful of compassion - The Boston Globe: "A prominent Boston physician is organizing retired colleagues to provide the personal attention that is often missing in modern medicine. The volunteers with Bedside Advocates will not practice medicine. Instead, they aim to provide comfort and compassion while helping fragile and elderly patients navigate the increasingly complex medical system by accompanying them to the doctor's office, the hospital, and the nursing home. They hope to help patients get better care by empowering them to ask questions, follow their medication regimes, and get prompt attention to problems. And most of all, they plan to be there when no one else is, providing relief for tired caregivers and support for patients without families, according to Dr. Jonathan Fine, who is leading the effort."
This is such a great idea ! Retired doctors can be excellent patient advocates; and their skills are very poorly used at present. They have a lifetime of wisdom to share - why can't we tap this properly ?
Incidentally, retired doctors are a great resource when you want a second opinion; or when you want a referral to a specialist.
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