Page 16 - Big Pharma and the Constant Gardener
P. 16
“WE NEED TO TRANSFORM
THE WAY WE THINK…”
The Eden Alternative – Overhearing the conversation between
Dad and Mother coincided with receiving a publication containing
an article written by Dr. Bill Thomas, Harvard Medical School
graduate, who had just founded The Eden Alternative in 1994. He
stated,
“. . . We need to get away from the over-medicalization of
the elderly . . . People with Alzheimer’s . . . don’t need their
memories or communication skills to have relationships with
others…. A major blind spot for Westerners in providing care
is our view of Alzheimer’s disease as a terrible blow. Other
cultures view caregiving as an opportunity to honor their elders
for ‘who they are now’ rather than viewing them as a corrupted
version of what they used to be . . . We need to transform the
way we think about and care for our elders.”
[Thomas, B. (1999, Spring) Thinking Outside the Box, An
Alternative Approach to Care. Alzheimer’s Association Advances.]
