Brother and sister authors Kane (long-term care and aging, Minnesota School of Public Health) and West (St. Joseph's College) tell the story of their mother's final days in America's long-term care system. Finding the experience to be profoundly negative, they discuss their mother's experience in an effort to demonstrate the failures of the system and to offer their own recommendations on how it can be improved by institutions and through policy. In separate chapters they cover the response to their mother's initial stroke, rehabilitation, assisted living, the dementia unit, the nursing home, medical personnel and hospitals, informal care, and the end of life. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)