Review by Barbara Kammerlohr, www.secondjourney.org, Fall 2007

One of the most profound promises of change in the way we age in America is the transformation of nursing homes. To report on that transformation, Beth Baker visited more than two dozen places "where people with physical or mental frailties live not as wards, patients or inmates, but as contributing, creative human beings." Through stories of the lives of both elders and caregivers, she demonstrates the profound effect the changing culture can have on the lives of both groups.

Baker's call for radical change, which echoes that of several visionaries, advocates transformation by giving staff more responsibility and offering residents a say in what happens to them. It is an important call to all of us because hers is simply a vision of what can be. However, she cautions:

Only a concerted push by society will undo half a century of institutional culture. The public must demand change-not only those whose loved ones move to a nursing home, but also, elders themselves in retirement communities and in advocacy groups; citizens, by becoming active in statewide culture-change coalitions; volunteers, by breaking down barriers and forming real relationships with elders.

This book is a call to action. If life is to be different for us in our final years, we must leave behind our denial of the aging process and act with "enlightened self-interest."

Baker is a Baby Boomer, former hospital worker, a freelance journalist, and a regular contributor to the Washington Post Health Section and the AARP Bulletin. She is the winner of two Gold National Mature Media Awards for her reporting on aging.