“The elderly are particularly vulnerable to ‘post-hospital syndrome,’ some experts believe, and that may be why so many patients return.”

“Bernadine Lewandowski and Dona Jones collaborating on a crossword. Ms. Lewandowski’s condition has improved, but she is too frail to live alone. – Credit: Madeline Gray for The New York Times”

by Paula Span

“When she moved from Michigan to be near her daughter in Cary, N.C., Bernadine Lewandowski insisted on renting an apartment five minutes away.

“Her daughter, Dona Jones, would have welcomed her mother into her own home, but ‘she’s always been very independent,’ Ms. Jones said.

“Like most people in their 80s, Ms. Lewandowski contended with several chronic illnesses and took medication for osteoporosis, heart failure and pulmonary disease. Increasingly forgetful, she had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. She used a cane for support as she walked around her apartment complex.

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