Some 400,000 hip fractures occur every year, the vast majority among the elderly; all too often these fractures are associated with death or severe disability. After her mother's double hip fracture, Luisa Margolies immersed herself in identifying and coordinating the services and professionals needed to provide critical care for an elderly person. She soon realized that the American medical system is ill prepared to deal with the long-term care needs of our graying society. The heart of My Mother's Hip is taken up with the author's day-to-day observations as her mother's condition worsened, then improved only to worsen again, while her father became increasingly anxious and disoriented. As both a devoted daughter and a skilled anthropologist, Margolies vividly renders her interactions with physicians, nurses, hospital workers, nursing home administrators, the Medicare bureaucracy, home care providers, and her parents. In the Lessons chapter that follows each episode, she discusses in a broader context the weighty decisions that adult children must make on their parents' behalf and the emotional toll their responsibility takes. Here she addresses the complex practical issues that commonly arise in such situations: understanding the consequences of hip fracture and its treatment, preparing health care proxies and advanced directives, enabling elders to remain at home, and the heartbreaking dilemma of prolonging life. Like many adult children, Margolies learned her lessons about eldercare in the midst of crises. This book is intended to ease the information-gathering and decision-making processes for others involved in eldercare.

"In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies has written two powerful books in one. The chapters of her caregiving experience read like a novel, one that more and more Americans are living every day. Her alternating chapters, called 'Lessons,' build a compelling argument for fixing—and humanizing—the fragmented system of long-term care in the United States. Every older American, family caregiver, and provider of health and social services should read this remarkable book."—Gloria Cavanaugh, President and CEO, American Society on Aging

"In My Mother's Hip, Luisa Margolies seamlessly integrates medical information with an intensely personal story that includes the frustration and fear that result from caring—and not always knowing how to care—for people you love. She explores end-of-life issues with the certainty of one who's been there. She knows how elusive the right answers can be and in their absence, how necessary are the qualities of patience, love, and understanding."—Nick Taylor, author of A Necessary End

"My Mother's Hip should be mandatory reading for all those who treat hip fracture patients as well as for the families of the patients. Luisa Margolies has captured the true impact of a hip fracture—on the patient, their family, and on our society."—Joseph D. Zuckerman, M.D., Professor and Chairman, NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery