Dr. Samuel Harrington’s father had a vision of how he wanted to experience the last days of his life.  That vision led Dr. Harrington and his sisters to help their father make end-of-life decisions based on the exit strategy he wanted. It also inspired Harrington’s new book, “At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life,” a practical and compassionate road-map for facing critical end-of-life decisions.  In today’s show, Dr. Harrington talks about issues raised in the book, which combines the story of his father’s decline and death with a discussion of disease in the elderly.  He tells us why, if you want to die at home, it’s essential to understand when it’s appropriate to say no to hospitalization, he explains how advertising promotes magical thinking about miracle cures and he breaks down some commonly used medical terms.  Dr. Harrington shares examples of how the momentum for treatment in medicine can lead to negative outcomes in elderly patients, which could have been prevented, he talks about his own evolution as a physician and he tells us why he chose to go public with his opinions that challenge the medical establishment.

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“At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life” will be released February 6, 2018. You can pre-order the book here: “At Peace”
Dr. Harrington’s website: samharrington.com
Check out Sam and his wife Debbie’s blog: gapyearaftersixty.com

 

Dr. Samuel Harrington

           

Four generations of Harringtons

  

Sam Harrington and his wife, Debbie Weil, on vacation in Africa.

 

Music: “Dryness” by Ketsa | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive