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MY MOTHER, YOUR MOTHER:EMBRACING “SLOW MEDICINE”:THE COMPASSIONATEAPPROACH TO CARING FORYOUR AGING LOVED ONES ByDennis McCulloughReviewed by Marcia H. Hickey Vice President aa Network Development , Hebrew Health Care, Inc. ,West Hartford, CTPublished online: 05 Feb 2009.

To cite this article: Reviewed by Marcia H. Hickey Vice President (2009) MY MOTHER,YOUR MOTHER: EMBRACING “SLOW MEDICINE”: THE COMPASSIONATE APPROACHTO CARING FOR YOUR AGING LOVED ONES By Dennis McCullough, EducationalGerontology, 35:3, 277-278, DOI: 10.1080/03601270802660049

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03601270802660049

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LEARNING RESOURCES

BOOKREVIEWS

MY MOTHER, YOUR MOTHER: EMBRACING ‘‘SLOW MEDICINE’’:THE COMPASSIONATE APPROACH TO CARING FOR YOUR AGING LOVED ONESBy Dennis McCulloughNew York: HarperCollins, 2008263 pages, $25.95 (hardcover)ISBN: 978-0-06-124302-8Reviewed by Marcia H. HickeyVice President, Network DevelopmentHebrew Health Care, Inc.West Hartford, CT

In the fast-paced world of modern medicine with the emphasis on technology, medicines, inva-

sive procedures, and a careful eye on the bottom line, the very old with chronic medical condi-

tions often experience medical care as burdensome, confusing, and isolating. Many families are

left feeling frustrated, confused, and worried about making the wrong decisions.

Dennis McCullough combined his personal experience of caring for his aged mother with his

30 years of experience as a family physician and geriatrician to create an invaluable guidebook

for transitioning through the final stages of late life. ‘‘Slow medicine’’ is a family centered,

hands-on approach, committed to a holistic understanding of the aged individual. It is not easy.

It requires knowledge, patience, diligence, care, and a commitment to compassionate advocacy.

There are few, if any, road maps for this final stage of life’s journey. Navigating a complex

medical system is an arduous task. Successful slow medicine requires the family to work

together with the medical providers in order to assure the best quality of life for the aged indi-

vidual. Slow medicine isn’t about medical miracles. It’s about the miracle of living well in the

time remaining. Dr. McCullough helps delineate the times when traditional medical

interventions and thoughtful slow medicine are best applied.

The concept of slow medicine is discussed in the preface and first chapter. The following chap-

ters present the eight stations of late life: stability, compromise, crisis, recovery, decline, prelude to

dying, death, and grieving=legacy. Each station begins with an overview, followed by a list and

discussion of practical tasks for that station. Families will find this user-friendly presentation

helpful in understanding the stations but also as a practical manual for navigating each station.

This is a book that can be referenced continually throughout the process.

My Mother, Your Mother is a compelling book for people in the late stages of life,

their families, and medical care providers. It is a book about living through the inevitable

Educational Gerontology, 35: 277–279, 2009

Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0360-1277 print=1521-0472 online

DOI: 10.1080/03601270802660049

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decline of old age. It is a book about caring for those we love and those we serve. It is a book for

everyone.

TRANSFORMATIONAL REMINISCENCE: LIFE STORY WORKBy John Kunz and F. G. SoltysNew York: Springer, 2007248 pages, $45.00 (hardcover)ISBN-13: 978-0-8261-1540-9Reviewed by James BirrenProfessorUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA

The primary goal of this book is to open a pathway to enhancing the lives of mature and older

adults. The pathway is provided by methods of encouraging the telling and sharing of life

stories, a process of enriching reminiscence.

There is growing interest our life stories in present-day society. Uncertainties and ambigu-

ities of life transitions have been increased by people living longer and having more active lives

in a changing society that has rapidly evolved from the industrial into the information era.

Society has become more efficient but also less personal. This book prepares the reader to work

with older adults to release and interpret their memories and life stories, which will result in

increased personal strengths.

In the past, reminiscence by older adults was looked upon as an idle preoccupation, a

nonproductive ‘‘killing of time.’’ This book demonstrates that reminiscence is a productive

activity that provides insights and releases the wisdom from accumulated experiences of long

lives. There are many facets to memories and life stories. The 11 chapters of this book provide

insights and instruction about methods to stimulate reminiscence and integrate memories. In

addition to the two senior authors, there are eight other authors. They all review relevant lit-

erature and provide evidence that encourages individuals to engage in the processes of remi-

niscence and life review. The dominant professional background of the authors is in social

work; five are from social work, two from counseling, and the remaining three are other spe-

cialized professionals, i.e., nursing, public health, and paraprofessional services.

The processes of human development over the life span are complex. Various disciplines

have developed different paradigms or models for explaining the processes and events that

shape lives and how lives are interpreted. This book does not guide the reader in determining

the validity of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Erikson’s stages of life, or Cohen’s four phases

of the second half of life. These are the external templates that are placed on lives, and they

are in contrast to the internal view of lives that individuals evolve and reveal in their reminis-

cence and life stories. We will learn much more in the years ahead from the interactions of

research studies and the studies of therapeutic reminiscences.

This book has a therapeutic orientation in helping older adults in a wide variety of contexts.

The described methods of stimulating reminiscence range from one-on-one to group work. The

title of the book, Transformational Reminiscence, is in itself a contribution. It implies that

constructive transformations result from the conduct of reminiscence with the elderly.

There is a wide range of contexts into which narrative reminiscence fits, from the therapeutic

couch to insightful lunch conversations with friends and colleagues. This book broadens the

perspective on the constructive sharing of memories. It contributes to making the 21st century

more personally constructive, in contrast to the trends of the automated information era.

This book is written for those who serve or want to serve the older population. Its primary

emphasis is on the therapeutic or helping use of reminiscence to improve the lives of older

278 Learning Resources

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