Terminal Decline
by Mohamed Khadra on 25 October 2010
I'm sitting here in my rooms thinking about a patient I saw recently. John (let's call him John) is an elderly man with early dementia. His wife of 51 years looks after him. She gets up at 2am when he's wandering about the house trying to find the toilet. She showers him, dresses him and cooks for him. She cleans up the messes he makes. He sometimes doesn't recognise her and abuses her thinking she's a burglar. She's patient. She loves him.Unfortunately, Teresa has just been diagnosed with widespread bowel cancer. I don't know what's going to happen to John after Teresa departs from this mortal coil.
Community services are poor.
John won't be able to stay at home. He'll need an institution. Back in rural Poland, John would have had his extended family to look after him and his wife. I suppose we as Australians look to the Government and to the Health System to do the same job. It can't. After 40 years of reform, my research for Terminal Decline, shows that the system is not capable of that type of care and nor can it afford it. John's on his own.
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About the Author
View All Posts by Mohamed KhadraMohamed Khadra
Mohamed Khadra is a professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has had a successful and varied career as a leader in education and medicine, internationally and in Australia. He has a degree in Medicine, a PhD and a fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He also has a postgraduate degree in Computing and a Masters in Education.His roles have included Inaugural Chair of Surgery at the Australian National University, Pro-vice Chancellor for Health, Design and Science at the University of Canberra, Professor of Surgery and Head of the School of Rural Health for the University of New South Wales. He has won several research prizes, including the Noel Newton Prize for surgical research and the Alban Gee Prize in urology.Mohamed is co-founder of the Institute of Technology Australia, an accredited higher-education provider that contributes to social justice by delivering accessible and affordable degrees to students in developing countries. He is the author of MAKING THE CUT: A SURGEON’S STORIES OF LIFE ON THE EDGE; The Patient: ONE MAN’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE AUSTRALIAN HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM; and co-author with David Williamson of the play AT WHAT COST?










