The ability of technology to diagnosis diseases earlier and provide treatments certainly has had an impact on people living longer. Many health care dollars are spent on treatments such a dialysis, chemo therapies, tests, and placing people in Intensive Care Units on ventilators when the care and treatment is futile. One perceived concern is the role of the aging population in the increasing cost of health care. Although, technology has been shown to be the cause of rising health care costs in the United States.

Kadlec (2013) posits, as the advance in medical care increases the residents that have their strong beliefs are not using the advanced medical technologies that are available today. He predicts that Boomers, who came of age participating in the great social upheavals of the 1960s and have continued to shape American culture ever since, will once again be a driving force for cultural change, this time around end-of-life issues. As Boomers enter the last phase of their lives, they will be the first generation to avoid painful life-extending procedures and make the most of palliative care to live better in fewer days, and then die with dignity (Kadlec, 2013). I have experienced this in the years I have been in the hospice industry.

Class has anyone noticed this in your experiences?