Being Mortal Summary

Being Mortal - Medicine and What Matters in the End - A Comprehensive Summary

Chapter 1: The Independent Self
In the first chapter Gawande explains the definition of living independently from the medical community’s point of view. How they define independence is different from how normal people describe independence. In America, there is a medical standard that determines the level of independence a certain individual has in his/her life. Meet all of these criteria, and from America’s standards, you would be considered an “independent” person. There are eight physical activities that define these independence standards. These are dressing yourself, bathing, grooming, walking, getting out of a chair, getting out of bed, using the bathroom, and eating. If a person is unable to accomplish even one of these tasks, then they would be considered not physically independent. There are eight more activities of daily living to be considered living safely as an independent. These eight activities are shopping, preparing food, housekeeping, doing laundry, taking medications, making phone calls, travelling, and managing finances. If someone were unable to perform these tasks, the medical community would consider them living independently a hazard to themselves or others.
Gawande shares a story about his grandfather in this chapter of the book. His grandfather lived to be about 110 years old. At the end of his life, he could only perform some of the eight activities that would deem a person independent. This was not a problem for Gawande’s grandfather, because family systems in India are such that younger generations support the elderly when they lose...

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