Description
A Guideline on Protecting the Health & Lives of Patients in Hospitals, especially if the Patient is a Member of a Societally Devalued Class
by Wolf Wolfensberger (2005)
Description by Wolfensberger
This book provides extensive and detailed instructions on how to protect patients in hospitals, especially if the person is a member of a class that is societally devalued (such as the elderly, or those with bodily or mental impairments).
Hospitals have become dangerous places for patients, both because of the tremendous complexity of contemporary hospital medicine, and because of attitudes on the part of health care staff that some people do not deserve good treatment and/or would be better off dead.
The book explains these many dangers, and gives guidance to those who want to protect vulnerable patients: what to be on the alert for, what to do for the patient, how to relate to hospital personnel, how to advocate for the patient, etc. The book emphasizes the importance of having a protective presence around the patient throughout the hospitalization, especially for patients who are very reduced in competency, or social value, or in standing.
