Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, author and staff writer for The New Yorker Magazine, paid a visit to White Oak Cottages as part of his current research. Dr. Gawande is known for his thought leadership on the increasingly complex practice of medicine. He has focused on systems approaches to improve safety and assure consistent quality, and most recently he has considered quality of life as people face life limiting illnesses.

In 2010, Dr. Gawande wrote an article for The New Yorker,  “Letting Go” which explores decision making as people approach the end of life, and the potential trade offs between quality of life and continued medical treatment. After the publication of this article, Dr. Gawande received a grant to expand his research on this subject.

As part of his research for this book, Dr. Gawande is researching different approaches and placements for those who have life limiting illnesses. He wanted to learn more about The Green House^® model which emphasizes quality of life as well as quality of care at White Oak Cottages which provides assisted living care to those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Dr. Gawande toured the cottages and had a lengthy discussion on the philosophy of care and the staffing model with the White Oak team and the Director of the Green House Project. He had a meal with the residents and the staff, where he heard and observed first-hand the experiences of the people who are living and working in White Oak Cottages.

We were delighted to host Dr. Gawande, and look forward to his insights in his upcoming book.