The Aging Revolution: The History of Geriatric Health Care and What Really Matters to Older Adults [Audiobook]

A history of aging in the United States and an innovative blueprint for revolutionizing care for older adults from Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care system. The New York Times described Dr. Robert Butler as “the man who saw old age anew.” In his 1975 book Why Survive: Being Old in America, Butler argued that for far too many people old age was “a period of quiet despair . . . and muted rage” and he set out to mitigate it. Nearly five decades since he penned his book, a devoted band of brilliant physicians and others in the healthcare field have realized at least a portion of Butler’s dream: to recognize and alleviate suffering among the aging. The Aging Revolution is the story of Butler and his disciples: women and men who saw older distressed adults in hospitals and homes, and worse: being ignored by most of the medical establishment. These revolutionaries could not ignore the suffering, and they set out—individually and collectively—to create entirely new ways of caring for aging adults to ease their suffering and improve their quality and length of life.