The Safety Dance

Well meaning family members often caution safety first s they try to persuade parents to change their habits, to exercise caution, to move from one setting to another. It?s what inspectors look at when they visit and rate nursing homes and post the results at www.medicare.gov.

"At root, though, this question is a philosophical one: how to balance safety with the things that make life worth living. Rosalie A. Kane, a gerontologist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a leading teacher, researcher and thinker about aging and long-term care has developed a list of factors that contribute to quality of life, security and comfort, meaningful activity, relationships, dignity, autonomy, privacy and others. She is not much in favor of policies or decisions that reduce those things, even if they might, say, reduce the risk of a fall."

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