AIRED: October 24, 2022
SPECIAL GUEST: Stephen G. Post
Unfortunately, things have not changed that much for the deeply forgetful and their caregivers despite all the money invested in Alzheimer’s pharmacology, which has been slightly effective at best. At present, there is no medicine to slow down the underlying progression of Alzheimer’s and caregivers eventually ask whether the treatments are worthwhile.
In Stephen Post’s new book, Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, he takes up the theme of caregiver hope and where they can find it. The book then responds in a practical way to sixteen ethical issues that have been raised by thousands of caregivers, as well as the hot button question of “PPAS.” Preemptive physician-assisted suicide for Alzheimer’s disease and the core elements of the “ethics of respectful care” that caregivers aspire to.
Throughout, Dignity for Forgetful People focuses on the extent to which we as caregivers can respect and abide by the previously or currently expressed preferences of a deeply forgetful person, especially with regard to clinical ethical choices.
To bring this journey to closure, Stephen responds somewhat pastorally to a question that has been asked of him many times: “Is Grandma still there?” In the final chapter, he builds on his own experience, as well as the many well-documented reports of “terminal lucidity” that can occur in the days just before someone dies from dementia. Recounting the loss of his own grandmother years ago with demenia he states, “I “felt” that she was still there underneath the communicative breakdowns when sporadically she expressed her whole self.”
STEPHEN G. POST
Stephen G. Post, Ph.D., is the bestselling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life by the Simple Act of Giving. The British Medical Journal designated his book, The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer’s Disease, a medical classic of the 20th century.
Post is among a handful of individuals awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the national Alzheimer’s Association. In 2001 he founded the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which researches and distributes knowledge on kindness, giving, and spirituality. A frequent contributor to major magazines and newspapers including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine, Post has appeared on The Daily Show among other national television programs.
He was invited to become one of the Founding Fellows of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), the preeminent scholarly organization in this field, based at Cambridge University. He received the Kama Book Award in Medical Humanities from World Literacy Canada (2008), and the “Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care” from the Trustees of the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network.
He is an elected member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine, London. Post served as a co-chair of the United Nations Population Fund conference on spirituality and global transformation.
He is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University, and the founder and director of the Stony Brook Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics. A leader in medicine, research, and religion, Dr. Post’s latest book is a meditation on the meaning of life and the importance of spirituality.
