ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the medical self-care practices of these seven old people (Eloise Little, Ruby Washington, Viola Worth, Reverend Joseph Scott, Lucy Oliver, Geraldine Starr, and Sally Finch) in the context of the long-term care system available to them. It focuses on their use of physicians and acute health care facilities, how they perceive the services received, and how they act, or fail to act, upon the advice and directives of their health care providers. The attitudes of the sick people toward medical authority and toward personal control over their own health interact with other factors—such as lack of money, energy, and social resources—to determine the extent to which their self-care complies with the regimens prescribed for them by health care professionals. These regimens typically include, in addition to hospital and physician visits, prescribed medications, assorted other treatments, and dietary practices.
